Iconic heavyweight star Larry Holmes attempted to take the rule book into his own hands during one of his most iconic fights from a decorated career.
Fresh off his WBC and The Ring heavyweight title victory over Scott LeDoux at the turn of the 1980s, heavyweight megastar Larry Holmes immediately drew links to a showdown with one of his former sparring partners.
And later that same year following his win over LeDoux, Holmes reluctantly took on the sport’s greatest ever heavyweight talent in a showdown for the ages.
Larry Holmes urged referee to stop his fight with a former teammate
In October of 1980, Holmes would put his WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles on the line for the first time — taking on an aging former world championship kingpin, Muhammad Ali.
- READ MORE — Muhammad Ali’s biggest payday was his $8 million purse for his devastating final title bout
Himself eight years younger than his former training and sparring partner Ali, at the time of their pairing, Holmes was more than reluctant to book a showdown with the late Louisville favorite.
Eventually booking an end-of-year showdown, Holmes dominated from start to finish against the elder Ali — en route to a devastating stoppage win.
But after already inflicting so much damage on the former world heavyweight titleholder, Holmes revealed how he had urged referee Richard Greene to just stop the fight — before he administered more punishment on the veteran Ali.
“I told the referee, ‘Stop this fight, don’t let this man (Ali) take the fight,'” Holmes told DJVlad in 2021. “And he says to me, ‘Shut up and box.’
“He told me, ‘Shut up and fight — keep beating him up.’ I beat him up. What do I gotta do? Kill him? I’m beating him up. Can’t you see I’m beating him up?
“But they pushed him out there again, so I was not hitting him hard no more — just hitting him, trying to make him quit.”
Larry Holmes revealed a post-fight embrace with Muhammad Ali
Dominantly retaining his championships with an eventual tenth-round stoppage, Holmes, who had previously trained and sparred with Ali, embraced the ex-heavyweight star.
- READ MORE — Larry Holmes knocked out a boxer-turned-wrestler just months before beating Muhammad Ali
Insisting to Ali that he was just doing his job in the ring, Holmes was met with a typical tongue-in-cheek response from the late global icon.
“I told the man after, ‘I still love you, man,'” Holmes explained. “And he said, ‘If you love me, why are you beating me up then?’ I said, ‘It’s part of the game.'”
After his stoppage win over Ali, Holmes would enjoy a further 12 consecutive defenses of heavyweight gold, including wins over the likes of Trevor Berbick, Leon Spinks, Marvis Frazier, and Carl Williams to name a few.