On July 7, 1980, heavyweight champion Larry Holmes stopped Scott LeDoux in the seventh round of their title bout in Minnesota. The victory was Holmes’s seventh consecutive defense by knockout, matching a longstanding record set by Joe Louis and underlining his dominance.
From the opening bell, Holmes controlled the contest with his signature left jab. He maintained distance effectively, forcing the hometown challenger LeDoux to struggle for position. Though LeDoux landed a solid right hand in the second round, the champion absorbed the shot and immediately re-established command of the ring. Holmes demonstrated his class by mixing his approach, boxing from the outside before stepping into close range to land damaging combinations. The cumulative effect of his precise punching became apparent as LeDoux’s left eye began to swell badly by the middle rounds.
The fight turned decisively in the sixth. A heavy right uppercut from Holmes sent LeDoux to his knees for the bout’s only knockdown. LeDoux protested to referee Davey Pearl that he had been thumbed in the eye, but the blow was ruled legitimate. He answered the count, but his eye was now closed and bleeding.
Fighting on instinct alone, LeDoux came out for the seventh round. Holmes gave no quarter, methodically targeting the injured eye with jabs and straight rights. With LeDoux absorbing unanswered punishment, the referee stepped in to halt the fight at 2:05 of the round. At the time of the stoppage, Holmes was ahead 60-53 on all three judges’ scorecards.
The victory was a prelude to one of Holmes’s most famous fights, a dominant stoppage of a faded Muhammad Ali three months later. Holmes would hold the heavyweight title until 1985. For LeDoux, the fight had lasting consequences; retinal damage sustained to his left eye impacted the remainder of his career. He fought on until 1983 before retiring, remaining a popular figure in Minnesota sports.
