Larry Holmes

CTL-E-6051 · Person · other · 1949–present

PROVISIONAL evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07274 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6051.

Larry Holmes, born 3 November 1949 in Cuthbert, Georgia, and raised in Easton, Pennsylvania, is an American former professional boxer known as the Easton Assassin. A former sparring partner for Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, he turned professional in 1973 and won the WBC heavyweight title in June 1978 by outpointing Ken Norton over fifteen rounds in one of the division's greatest fights. Built around one of the finest left jabs in boxing history, his reign lasted more than seven years and included twenty successful title defenses, a total surpassed among heavyweights only by Joe Louis. His defense against Ali in 1980 made him the only boxer ever to stop Ali. He lost the title to Michael Spinks in 1985, one win short of Rocky Marciano's 49-0 mark, challenged for titles into his forties, and fought finally in 2002 with a record of 69 wins and 6 losses. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008.

The record

• Also known as: The Easton Assassin

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Census Intake Wave 5 — 747 Program, Wave 11; 40-record packet). Gate A (2026-10-16): no Larry Holmes entity in the live graph at 3,763 entities (exact / normalized / alias + token containment); ID CTL-E-6051 assigned at assembly. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger, Tier 3 — Famous Birthdays ABSENT census, readiness rank 1222 (Boxers list). The census supplied the NAME ONLY; no fact in this record is sourced to it (CTL-GOV-004). SCOPE GATE: PASS — African American heavyweight boxer; WBC and IBF champion 1978–1985 with twenty title defenses. Vital status: LIVING — profiled as living at 76 in Boxing247's 'Larry Holmes At 76' profile; no obituary or death reporting exists in any source consulted. The currency of this evidence is the Provisional cap below. STATISTICS (sourced, dated): Professional record 69-6, 44 KOs (AP, Jun 2008; Wikipedia); twenty successful heavyweight title defenses, surpassed only by Joe Louis's 25 (AP). MEDIA: photo HELD (candidate: Wikimedia Commons photograph 'Larry Holmes 2010' (TheDigitel Beaufort, CC BY 2.0); no file page was read at file-page level in this pass, so no image is cleared — CTL-PHOTO-001; a CTL-created graphic is the standing alternative); chart FILLED (charts/chart-temp-1222-larry-holmes.svg); video HELD (Shorts Link Map checked by name and variants — no matching-entity CTL Short); audio HELD (no rights basis). PROVISIONAL CAP: vital-status evidence currency — the latest dated boxing-press profile of Holmes found in this pass is Boxing247's at-76 profile; no authoritative October 2026 activity or reporting on Holmes was secured, following the Wave 4 Evander Holyfield precedent. MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created SVG (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record's sourced facts) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map catalog (checked by name and variants), and no official/em) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio at staging.)

Relationships

• Mike Tyson — related to
  Holmes came out of retirement to challenge Mike Tyson (CTL-E-5680) for the heavyweight championship on 22 January 1988 and was knocked out in the fourth round.
• Muhammad Ali — related to
  Holmes, a former sparring partner of Muhammad Ali (CTL-E-5679), defended the WBC heavyweight title against Ali on 2 October 1980 and won by technical knockout — the only stoppage defeat of Ali's career.

Referenced by

• Michael Spinks — related to → this record

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame, 'Class of 2008' induction ceremony report — heavyweight champion Larry Holmes was a living inductee enshrined on 8 Jun 2008 in Canastota, New York — http://www.ibhof.com/pages/inductionweekend/2008/08ceremony.html (primary source · build store)
• Associated Press, 'Emotional Holmes leads class of 12 inductees into boxing Hall of Fame' (Jun 2008), via Sportsbook Review Forum — Holmes reigned as heavyweight champion for more than seven years with 20 successful defenses, second only to Joe Louis; career record 69-6 with 44 knockouts; champion 1978–1985 — https://www.sportsbookreview.com/forum/boxing-mma-ufc-betting/69068-larry-holmes-inducted-into-boxing-hall-of-fame (build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Larry Holmes' — born 3 November 1949, Cuthbert, Georgia; grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania; professional record 69 wins (44 KOs), 6 losses in 75 fights, 1973–2002 — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Holmes (build store)
• Boxing247, 'Larry Holmes At 76: The Greatest Living Heavyweight' — profile of Holmes at 76, recalling his June 1978–September 1985 title reign, his years as Muhammad Ali's sparring partner and his wins over Earnie Shavers, Gerry Cooney and Tim Witherspoon — https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/larry-holmes-at-76-boxings-greatest-living-heavyweight/297773 (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6051 · Combined Graph record U-07274 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 4 sources · 3 mapped relationships.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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