Holmes, Larry
Identification World heavyweight boxing
champion from 1978 to 1985
Born November 3, 1949; Cuthbert, Georgia
Holmes dominated the heavyweight division in profes-
sional boxing during the first half of the 1980’s, reigning
as world champion until his defeat by Michael Spinks.
Larry Holmes began his boxing career in 1973 and
achieved a string of twenty-seven consecutive victo-
ries before winning the World Boxing Council heavy-
weight title from Ken Norton on June 19, 1978. He
successfully defended his title four times during the
remainder of the 1970’s, then during the 1980’s he
made a remarkable sixteen additional defenses of
the title before finally losing to Michael Spinks on
September 21, 1985.
During the 1980’s, Holmes, who was nicknamed
the Easton Assassin after his homebase of Easton,
Pennsylvania, fought most of the top fighters in what
was at that time a rather mediocre heavyweight divi-
sion. His opponents included an aging Muhammad
Ali, who he defeated by technical knockout (TKO)
in eleven rounds in 1980, Trevor Berbick, Leon
Spinks, Renaldo Snipes, Gerry Cooney, Tim With-
erspoon, James Smith, and Carl Williams. Several of
these fighters either had held or would later hold
portions of the then-fragmented heavyweight title.
The bout with Cooney, which took place on June 11,
1982, and which Holmes won by a TKO in the thir-
teenth round, may well stand as his greatest perfor-
mance during the decade. The bout also had strong
racial symbolism attached to it, because Cooney was
billed as the “Great White Hope”—the hope ex-
pressed by many white Americans at various points
in boxing history of overcoming African American
dominance in the heavyweight division.
Although Holmes technically held the World
Boxing Council title from 1978 to 1983 and then
gave it up for the International Boxing Federation ti-
tle, which he held until 1985, he was generally recog-
nized as the world heavyweight champion during
this entire period. At the time of his defeat by Mi-
chael Spinks, Holmes was just one fight short of the
undefeated career record held by earlier champion
Rocky Marciano, and his number of title defenses
was second only to that of Joe Louis.
After losing a close decision to Michael Spinks in
a rematch in 1986, Holmes retired from boxing. He
came out of retirement in 1988, at the age of thirty-
eight, to fight Mike Tyson, losing by a fourth-round
TKO. Tyson rose to dominate the division during
the latter years of the decade.
Impact Holmes ended his career in 2002 with an
overall record of sixty-nine wins—forty-four of them
by knockout—and only six losses—just one of which,
the defeat by Tyson, came by knockout. He ranks
among the top heavyweight champions of boxing,
and he was clearly the preeminent boxer in that
weight class during the first half of the 1980’s.
Further Reading
Brunt, Stephen. “Larry Holmes.” InFacing Ali.
Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2002.
Holmes, Larry, with Phil Berger. Larr y Holmes:
Against the Odds.New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1998.
Scott WrightSee also African Americans; Boxing; Sports;
Tyson, Mike.Home shopping channels
Definition Television channels dedicated to
selling products or services
Television home shopping gained national prominence in
the 1980’s, eventually growing into a multibillion dollar
business. Dedicated twenty-four-hour shopping channels,
mostly on cable or satellite systems, developed new markets
and marketing techniques, changing the way some prod-
ucts were bought and sold, especially apparel, jewelr y, and
cosmetics.
Home shopping channels represent a form of retail-
ing known as direct response marketing. In this
retail format, potential customers watch television
programs that demonstrate or market commodities,
then respond to those programs by telephone, plac-
ing orders directly with the marketing company. The
format includes dedicated channels, such as Home
Shopping Network (HSN) and QVC; infomercials,
program-length commericials featured on general
television channels, usually late at night; and shorter
direct response commercials that can last for as little
as thirty seconds but encourage immediate action
with such phrases as “operators are standing by to
take your order.”The Eighties in America Home shopping channels 475