Boxing great Larry Holmes has never felt fully appreciated in his Pennsylvania hometown of Easton.
Decades after succeeding Muhammad Ali as heavyweight champ, Holmes is finally getting the bronze – a 9-foot bronze statue.
Holmes plans to be on hand this weekend as a high school marching band leads a parade in his honor and a monument to the “Easton Assassin” is unveiled and dedicated.
Now 66, Holmes grew up in Easton and never left, despite a long, lucrative boxing career that took him to the pinnacle of his sport. He built a business empire that included office buildings and restaurants and devoted time and money to youth organizations.
Holmes says it’s “mind-boggling” that a seventh-grade dropout could rise to such heights.