Larry Holmes Retires Again--This Time for Good, He Says

Larry Holmes, former heavyweight boxing champion, retired again Thursday, three days after his 37th birthday.

It was the second retirement announcement for Holmes, but this time he said it will stick. After a news conference at his motel near Phillipsburg, N.J., Holmes said: “I’m tired of people using me. I’m tired of fighting and I’m tired of not getting the decisions I earned. I got too old.”

In March 1985, Holmes said he was retiring after beating David Bey but came back, defeated Carl Williams, then lost his title to Michael Spinks. He also lost a rematch to Spinks.

Holmes complained bitterly over the second decision loss to Spinks. Had he won both fights, his record would have been 50-0 instead of 48-2.

“I’m 50-0,” Holmes said Thursday. “People know it. They can question the 49th (the outcome of the first Spinks fight), but they can’t question the 50th.”