The Great Larry Holmes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Easton Assassin

Growing up in Easton, Pennsylvania, Larry Holmes would prove that he was a killer in the ring. Turning professional at age 23, his first professional fight took place in 1973 and was a victory over Rodell Dupree. It would be the first of several victories for Holmes.

Answer: Ken Norton

Leon Spinks was ordered by the WBC (World Boxing Council) to defend his title against Ken Norton, but Spinks refused. As a result, the WBC stripped Spinks of their version of the title, and awarded the title to Ken Norton. Meanwhile the WBA (World Boxing Association) sanctioned a rematch between Leon Spinks and Muhammad Ali.

The Holmes-Norton contest, taking place in Las Vegas, was a grueling affair, that lasted the full 15 rounds.

Answer: Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was well past his prime by the time this fight took place. To his credit, many boxing historians have noted that Holmes had asked a number of times during the fight for the referee, Richard Greene, to stop the fight. Ali had not fought for over two years and it showed. Ironically, Holmes had served as Ali's sparring partner years earlier.

Answer: Gerry Cooney

The fight took place on on June 12, 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cooney was a 225 pound challenger from Huntington, New York, who outweighed Holmes by 13 pounds on the day of the fight. The contest lasted until the 13th round when the referee stopped the fight to protect Cooney who was not able to defend himself, awarding a victory to Holmes by TKO.

Answer: Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell had covered boxing for decades including commentating some memorable boxing moments including Foreman-Frazier. Cosell was very critical of the fight that night, as he felt it should have been stopped due to the horrendous beating that Cobb was suffering at the hands of Holmes.

The bosses at ABC then promptly removed Cosell from calling any future boxing matches for the network.

Answer: Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano's professional boxing career lasted from 1947-1955. Amazingly, he never lost a fight during his entire career. Sadly for Holmes, his goal of matching Marciano's record was not realized as Michael Spinks was awarded the fight on a controversial unanimous decision. The referee that night was Carlos Padila.

Answer: Mike Tyson

Holmes had not fought for nearly two years when he decided to step back in the ring against the much younger Tyson. At the time of the fight, Tyson was undefeated with a record of 32-0. The fight, taking place in Atlantic City, ended with Tyson knocking Holmes out in the 4th round. This was the first and only time in Larry Holmes' career that he was knocked out.

Answer: Evander Holyfield

All three judges of the fight, Carol Castellano, Chuck Giampa and Glen Hamada, clearly had Holyfield as the winner resulting in a unanimous decision for the then champion. Holmes did earn the respect of many fight fans that night in Las Vegas by going the distance with the undefeated Holyfield who was 13 years younger than Holmes. The referee that night was Mills Lane.

Answer: Oliver McCall

McCall was 29 years old at the time of the fight, and knock as the "Atomic Bull" Although he won a unanimous decision, one of the judges, Barbara Perez, scored the fight very close with McCall winning 114-113. This would be the last time that Larry Holmes would fight for the WBC version of heavyweight title although he would continue to box professionally and fight for the IBO version of the title in 1997.

Answer: George Foreman

Amazingly, Holmes and Foreman never fought despite that they both had long careers throughout the same decades of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They actually had an agreement to fight in 1999, but the fight was called off. Foreman, like Holmes, had success both early and late in his career. Both men also experienced a great deal of business success outside of boxing. Foreman is known by many folks for his different Foreman grills.