Heavyweight Legend Says Muhammad Ali Was His Idol But “I’m The Greatest Of All Time”

Known more commonly by his alias ‘The Greatest’, Ali captured world honours on three separate occasions throughout his tenure, defeating the likes of George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Sonny Listen amongst many others.

His 1974 showdown with Foreman, which is known simply as ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, is perhaps the most iconic night in boxing history. Ali was written off by many fans and pundits going into the fight, but used his infamous ‘rope-a-dope’ style to wear ‘Big’ George down and stop him in the eighth.

It wasn’t entirely plain sailing for ‘The Greatest’ however, who suffered a handful of defeats before finally walking away from the sport in at the beginning of the 80’s. One of the fighters who got the better of Ali was Larry Holmes, who stopped him in the tenth round of the penultimate bout of his tenure in October 1980.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Holmes believes he should be considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, ahead of Ali himself.

“Everyone said I was just a copy of Muhammad Ali, just because I idolised they guy, he hit, boxed, moved around and looked good, I like his style, I copied some of his styles, his jabs and moves and whatnot and I bettered it.

I don’t get the recognition that I should get, like a Mike Tyson. Hey listen, I had 20 title defences, Mike Tyson had three or four and lost, I was champion for seven and a half years, he was champion for seven months, they don’t want to recognise me. Ali don’t have the fight record that I have with defending the title, he didn’t hold his title for seven and a half years. Why can’t I fit in that box, why does Muhammad Ali have to be the greatest, he can say he’s the greatest, you can say he’s the greatest, but I know different, I’m the greatest.”

Holmes reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1978 and 1985, making twenty successful defences of his crown.