Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes
Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes, billed as "The Last Stand", was a professional boxing match contested on February 7, 1992. Background The previous year was a good one for the undefeated Olympic Gold Medalist Ray Mercer. He started the year off by defeating the previously undefeated Francesco Damiani to capture the WBO Heavyweight title. Following that victory, Mercer was matched up against another undefeated fighter in Tommy Morrison for what would be the first and only defense of his WBO title. Morrison outboxed Mercer for the first three rounds, but Mercer came back strong in the fourth round and proceeded to knock out Morrison in brutal fashion by pinning him against a corner and landing several unanswered, heavy blows until the referee stopped the bout 28 seconds into the fifth round. The victory made Mercer one of the top fighters in the heavyweight division and he quickly vacated the then less regarded WBO title in order to face 42-year-old ex-heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in a match to determine who would next meet Evander Holyfield for the IBF, WBA and WBC versions of the Heavyweight Championship. Holmes had twice retired, first after failing to recapture his IBF title in a 1986