Larry Holmes has blasted a legendary heavyweight champion for being given a world title shot that he didn’t deserve.
Holmes reigned as the world heavyweight champion for 7-years between 1978 and 1985. where he made no less than 20 successful defences of his crown, defeating the likes of Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers and Muhammad Ali along the way.
Despite facing so many of the greatest heavyweights of his era, one man who never crossed paths with ‘The Easton Assassin’ was ‘Big’ George Foreman, who is often credited with being one of the best heavyweights to have ever laced up the gloves.
Foreman captured the world heavyweight championship on two occasions during his tenure, with the first coming in 1973 when he dispatched of Joe Frazier inside just two rounds. The second time he captured world honours was over 20-years later, when he sensationally knocked out Michael Moorer in their 1994 showdown to become the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
In a resurfaced YouTube interview, Holmes claimed that ‘Big’ George had got ‘lucky’ in his victory over Moorer on that historic night for the late-great heavyweight legend.
“George Foreman knocked Michael Moorer out, but a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.
“That’s what Foreman found, an acorn. All night long he was eating right hands. His face was swollen up, he was taking punches all night and he was getting beat up. He got lucky.”
After defeating Moorer, Foreman fought on four more occasions before finally drawing the curtain on his career shortly after he was beaten by Shannon Briggs in November 1997. ‘Big’ George still remains the oldest heavyweight champion ever, over 30-years after it was broken by one of the greatest heavyweights of the sport’s long and storied history.
