Larry Holmes vs Scott Frank

Larry Holmes retained the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship at Harrah’s Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City on September 10, 1983, stopping Scott Frank after one minute and 28 seconds of the fifth round. The contest, scheduled for 12 rounds, was Holmes’s 16th defence of the championship he had won from Ken Norton five years earlier. Holmes weighed 223 pounds and Frank 211. A sell-out crowd of 5,187 paid approximately $580,000 to attend the promotion, which was staged beneath a large temporary tent erected beside the casino and televised nationally by NBC. Holmes received a reported purse of $1.5 million, while the challenger was paid $350,000.

Frank, a 25-year-old from Oakland, New Jersey, entered the ring unbeaten in 21 contests, with 20 victories and one draw. He had held Renaldo Snipes, a former challenger for Holmes’s title, to a draw and had won the New Jersey heavyweight championship from the veteran Chuck Wepner. Even so, his record contained little to suggest that he was equipped to meet Holmes. The champion was unbeaten in 43 professional contests and was returning four months after his difficult split-decision victory over Tim Witherspoon. Frank had obtained his opportunity in an unusual fashion, approaching the Main Events promotional organisation and telephoning Holmes directly to ask for a championship match. He was listed among the leading heavyweights by some authorities, although the available rankings were far from unanimous concerning his standing.

Holmes established control almost immediately. Standing upright and balanced, he sent his long left jab into Frank’s face with little interference. The challenger attempted to remain close enough to counter, but he was neither quick enough to slip the jab nor force Holmes backwards. Several straight lefts landed during the opening round, and Holmes soon began placing the right hand behind them. Swelling appeared around one of Frank’s eyes before the bell. Frank tried to show that the punches had not troubled him, waving at Holmes and making gestures of defiance, but the champion continued to strike him cleanly and without undue exertion.

The pattern remained unchanged in the second round. Holmes measured Frank with the left, sometimes holding it before him to judge the distance, and then drove the right through the opening. Late in the round, a hard right uppercut caught Frank and sent him staggering into the ropes. He remained on his feet and continued to invite Holmes forward, but his actions were more a display of spirit than an answer to the champion’s boxing. Holmes did not rush. He kept Frank at the proper range, disturbed his balance with the jab and followed whenever the challenger’s head remained stationary.

Holmes increased the pressure in the third. Frank’s attempts to advance were checked repeatedly by the champion’s left hand, after which the right crossed with growing force. Midway through the round, a right hand bloodied Frank’s nose. The challenger absorbed the punishment and continued to gesture towards Holmes, but he was unable to land enough in return to interrupt the champion’s work. Holmes was winning the exchanges at long range and also proving the stronger man when Frank came close. Frank later complained that he had been struck in the eye by Holmes’s thumb, although no foul was called and Holmes said afterwards that any such contact had been accidental.

Early in the fourth round, Holmes attacked with a rapid series of punches that added to the damage around Frank’s eyes. A left hook followed by a right hand stopped the challenger in his tracks. Frank again waved Holmes towards him, but the gesture could not conceal the difference between them. Holmes remained composed, stepping in behind the jab and driving the right to the damaged area whenever Frank’s guard opened. The champion had won every completed round. Judges Harold Lederman and Frank Brunette each had Holmes ahead 40–36, while Arlen Bynum scored the contest 40–35, giving Holmes a two-point margin in the third round.

The finish came midway through the fifth. Holmes drove a heavy right hand into Frank’s face, and the challenger buckled near his own corner, clutching at the injured area. Referee Tony Perez administered a count, which Frank beat at four. Holmes moved in at once and struck with another left-right combination. Frank sagged again under the attack and, with Holmes continuing to punch and the challenger no longer defending himself adequately, Perez stepped between them at 1:28. Frank protested the intervention, but the stoppage spared him further punishment in a contest he had shown no prospect of recovering.

Holmes had not merely been ahead; he had controlled almost every passage of the fight. His jab determined the distance, his right hand caused the visible damage, and Frank’s courage was not supported by the speed, defence or punching authority required to alter the course of the contest. The champion’s previous defence against Witherspoon had been close and demanding, but there was no comparable difficulty in Atlantic City. Frank remained willing throughout and never ceased trying to persuade Holmes that he was unhurt, yet his gestures became less convincing as his face swelled and the champion’s punches continued to arrive.

The victory carried Holmes’s professional record to 44 wins without defeat and extended his championship reign through a 16th successful defence. He said at the time that he expected to retire after two further contests, though his career continued considerably longer. Frank, who had spoken before the fight of having no lengthy ambitions in boxing, did not again contest a major championship. For Holmes, the evening was a routine but decisive defence: five rounds of accurate, orderly work against a challenger whose determination allowed him to endure the champion’s punches for a time, but could not make the contest competitive.