Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes was a dominant American heavyweight who held the WBC and inaugural IBF titles for seven years and successfully defended his championship twenty times.

Forty-eight consecutive professional wins — a run that included the WBC heavyweight title and one-sided victories over Muhammad Ali and Earnie Shavers — made Larry Holmes one of the most dominant heavyweight champions of his era before a controversial loss to Michael Spinks in 1985 finally ended what had been one of the sport's most formidable unbeaten records. Nicknamed "The Easton Assassin" after the Pennsylvania town where he grew up, he won the WBC heavyweight title in 1978. Holmes went undefeated for the first 48 fights of his professional career, defending his title against a series of top contenders throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, including a memorably one-sided defeat of an ageing Muhammad Ali in 1980, a fight Holmes later said he took no pleasure in due to his respect and affection for Ali. Holmes's remarkable unbeaten run finally ended in September 1985, when he lost a controversial decision to light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, who became the first man to move up from 175 pounds and defeat a reigning heavyweight champion. Holmes lost the immediate rematch as well, and both results remain debated among boxing historians. Holmes continued fighting into his fifties, challenging for world titles as late as 1997 against Evander Holyfield, and finished his career with a record of 69 wins and six losses. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008, widely regarded as one of the most technically accomplished heavyweight champions in the sport's history.

Technical boxer with powerful left jab

One of greatest heavyweight champions, exceptional jab

• International Boxing Hall of Fame 2008