|
|
|
LARRY "THE EASTON ASSASSIN" HOLMES
Brad Cooney: Larry.. First of all, thank you very much for talking to me.. I know you are a busy man.
Larry Holmes: How you doing man.. you doing ok?
Brad Cooney: I am doing very well Champ, thank you...
Larry Holmes: Brad, where are you at Mississippi?
Brad Cooney: Yes, I am in Jackson Mississippi.
Larry Holmes: I never been to Jackson.. but I was in Biloxi, and Bay St Louis.
Brad Cooney: Larry, you fought in Bay St Louis, and in Biloxi quite a few times, no?
Larry Holmes: 8 times all together.
Brad Cooney: Larry, I think we have a mutual friend in Chuck Wepner, he speaks highly of you and has mentioned your fight down here in Mississippi. He attended one of them, I can't remember which one though.
Larry Holmes: Chuck is a good guy man.. his wife keeps in straight.. (laughing)...
Brad Cooney: Champ.. what are you up to as of recently?
Larry Holmes: Well you know, I am doing this boxing reality show with Oscar Delahoya that will be on FOX. I also am trying to get that crazy guy named Foreman to come out. He's saying he is going to kick my butt? He is always coming out saying what he is going to do with everyone else, but damnit, he must be scared of the greatest fighter that ever lives... me.
|
On Life
"I always say to young fighters, "hard work aint easy, but it is fair." You give in to yourself and you will never win."
-Larry Holmes |
Larry Holmes: No, he would never fight me. I would have jabbed him today like I would have jabbed him when I was a young Larry Holmes. We almost got in the ring a few times. He wouldn't dare touch a contract with my name on it though. He just never put the dollars up where his mouth was..
Brad Cooney: So, you haven't heard anything from George Foreman at all?
|
|
Brad Cooney: Champ, I will give you some money to beat up Scott LeDoux (laughing).... I think a fight with Foreman would be OK, even at both of your ages. I think a lot of people would still like to see that fight.
Larry Holmes: I know they would. A lot of people dont know George Foreman like I do and I will tell them all, he is the biggest phoney in the damn world and that grill don't mean nothing. If you buy that grill, you are wasting your money. If you don't want no damn fat on your steak, you got to be crazy. Eat that juice man. I want a juicy hamburger. I don't want no dried up hamburger. (laughing) If you don't want the grease to run down, just tilt the pot. (laughing)
Brad Cooney: Oh man.. That is funny.... (laughing) Larry, what got you into boxing initially?
Larry Holmes: You know... I have always been athletic. Football, basketball, baseball, everything I could get into as a child, but I dropped out of school when I was young. I was boxing, and I didn't need to go to college to keep doing it. I got into amateurs, then I got to liking it, but I never thought I would go pro or win the title. Then I started meeting people and fighting more. I said, 'shit man, them guys im fighting are older than me. I am doing real good with them.' If I keep staying at it, how far can I go?
Brad Cooney: At what point did you start feeling that you are good at it and when did people start noticing that Larry Holmes was not just a boxer, but a special boxer?
Larry Holmes: It was after my 6th or 7th fight pro fight, then Don King took a liking to me, but he only used me as a sparring partner, at that point he didn't think I had the heart for it. Nobody really thought so, but he kept with me. He didn't give me the money I should have been getting, but, I stayed with it. So he was good for me in that way.
Brad Cooney: Larry, I am involved in amateur boxing here in Mississippi, we have a boxing club here in Pearl. In fact we have a young fella named Thomas that won the 2004 Junior Golden Gloves Championship out of our gym, but anyway, every time I go to the amateur shows, the older fans will get to talking about the Heavyweights back in the day and who had the best hook, or the best punch and when the best jab comes up, Larry Holmes is almost always who everyone agrees on. Larry, was your jab the key to your brilliant success as a Heavyweight Champ?
Larry Holmes: Brad, I would have to agree with that. I really think so because with the jab, everything sets up after that. Ali had a good jab, but he just slapped people with it. He slapped the hell out of people. My jab did damage to people and that is what really carried me on. If you have a good jab, that is half of the fight. Most Heavyweights throw 40 or 50 punches a round, I was throwing that with just the jab and then I would finish people. Sooner or later, they would go out.
Brad Cooney: Larry, you ate up Gerry Cooney with the jab.
Larry Holmes: Gerry was a big puncher and he came forward and he ate my jab. It was my counter to him coming forward. He ran into my punches. Earnie Shavers was the same way. They look for the big punch and they have to set you up to do it. They have to try to counter over a jab, same thing with Kenny Norton. My jab kept working .. bang, bang.. and I would stay to there side and on the outside and that is what kept me going.
Brad Cooney: Larry, every person I talk to that fought Earnie Shavers talks about how hard that guy hit. He caught you with one didn't he?
Larry Holmes: Oh .. Earnie Shavers hit me so damn hard... I feel it now!.. (laughing)..25 years later......
Brad Cooney: Larry, talk about todays Heavyweights. Why do you think the division is so wide open now? I mean when you start comparing the names from your prime, to todays names, and I mean no disrespect, todays fighters are still warriors, but the talent level seems to have dropped quite a bit... no?
Larry Holmes: Well, number one, the great trainers are not there anymore. They are either dying off or just don't want to do it anymore and these guys now make so much money, that after a payday, they don't want to fight another one for awhile. You have to practice what you preach man. I mean, if you want to be a great fighter, you have to practice like a great fighter. These guys go in the gym every other week or only when they have a fight. When I fought, I fought on a Tuesday and back in the gym on a Monday. If I fought on a Saturday, I was back in the Gym on Wednesday. If I hurt my right, I would use my left. If I hurt my left, I would use my right or run some miles, or shadow box.
Today, these guys dont have none of that. When they come back into the corner, their guys are asking them, "How do you feel?" How the hell do you think I feel? I just got hit in the nose (laughing)... I was watching the Ebo Elder fight the other night. He got knocked down and his father was asking him, "man, how do you feel, I didn't even see that punch." I was thinking, well damn, neither did Ebo. I mean come on, why is he asking him how he feels. He just got knocked down. How the hell does he think he feels. I mean come on, don't ask him that. He just got knocked down. How is the kid supposed to feel?(laughing)
Brad, you go down to your gym down there, and see who is really qualified to train fighters. You don't have to fight to know fighting. Just be around the game long enough to know what you are doing, but if you haven't been around the game enough, don't train.
Brad Cooney: Larry, basically, you are saying that good old hard work is a big key to being successful. Larry, you proved it by working hard and that is why you still hold the record for holding the Heavyweight Championship for longer than anyone in history.
Larry Holmes: Exactly. I worked my ass for that. I always say to young fighters, "hard work aint easy, but it is fair." You give in to yourself and you will never win. Sometimes your mind will say, "shit don't do this." Sometimes they say you should listen to your first mind, you know Brad, like you could be walking down the street, and your mind tells you, "don't go down that street", so you don't do it, but once and awhile, you say fuck it and you go anyway. (laughing).. So when you are in the fight game, if your mind says don't do this, you sometimes have to over-rule it because its gonna be what you want to do, don't lay down. When I got hit with that punch by Earnie Shavers, people were yelling "get up, get up." My body was saying "stay down stay down" (laughing), but my mind was saying. "Kick his ass Larry," it's mind over matter.
Brad Cooney: Who was the toughest fighter you have ever faced?
Larry Holmes: Ken Norton.. June 9th, 1978 Ceasars Palace.. He was champion and he didn't want to lose and he was only the champ for 3 months because Leon Spinks didn't want to fight Kenny Norton, he wanted to rematch Ali. They signed an agreement, the WBC said, hey you have an agreement, but the WBA said, we are going to stick with Leon Spinks, so they did. That is how the titles got split, the WBA went with Spinks and the WBC said, no, you have to follow the rules. So then there was a box off and Ken Norton beat Jimmy Young for the title and I had to fight the winner for that, after the elimination fight with Earnie Shavers..
Brad Cooney: Larry, in 1985, I was sitting on board the USS Truett, in the navy, down in the mess decks. I remember on the television, you were fighting a guy named Carl "THE TRUTH" Williams. What are your memories of that fight?
Larry Holmes: I was shadow boxing. I thought I was fighting myself, he came out, and looked just like me (laughing). He punched good, he moved, it made it difficult for me to hit, but when he stopped moving., it was easier, but when he was jumping all around, I was like, "shit, I can't beat me" (laughing). I wore him down, and in time, I got him.
Brad Cooney: It is amazing how two lifes can go in different directions. Carl last time I heard was a security guard somewhere. In fact I believe that Gerry Cooney's F.I.S.T. program helped "Truth" out with getting him that job..
Larry Holmes: Well you know, Gerry does a lot with F.I.S.T. .. I try to help him out as much as I can with that.. a lot of the reason is that people have different lifestyles.
I have a quiet lifestyle. I am in a little town. Easton. Just like where you are at Brad. It is probably pretty quiet down where you are at..everything closes down at 10 o'clock and everybody goes home (laughing).
Brad Cooney: Champ, in some counties down here, you cannot even buy beer period. (laughing).
Larry Holmes: That is what I am saying (laughing). Well here it is not quite that bad, we are starting to get a lot of people that are moving here from the city, but my lifestyle is quiet, but some of these fighters today stay up all night and all the next day.
Brad Cooney: I think you also have to give yourself some credit for having a business mind. Not everyone has that.
Larry Holmes: Brad, I was scared. I was scared of going back to where I came from, and everyone would be talking shit about me, saying you were a fool, you had it, now you lost it. You have nothing to show for it. 36 years of taking punches and nothing to show for it. Brad, I didn't want that to happen.
Brad Cooney: So you being scared was an incentive for you to keep on the straight and narrow, work hard and create a business?
Larry Holmes: To keep me going man..
|
Pension Plans
"There should be a pension plan. They should take some money out of the gate, ticket sales and the television and a small amount of the purse."
-Larry Holmes |
Larry Holmes: Brad, I have said this a long time ago. What boxing needs to do, is everytime there is a fight, there should be a sum of money that goes into a fund for insurance, just like they do in every state in the country when you have a job. There should be a pension plan. They should take some money out of the gate, ticket sales and the television and a small amount of the purse.
Brad Cooney: Many in boxing put you right up there with the greatest Heavyweights of all time. Where does Larry Holmes put himself within boxing's elite?
Larry Holmes: Well, people usually get mad at me, but you know what, I tell him the way I feel, but if I don't feel good about myself, then I aint shit to myself. I am the best that God has ever put on this earth. I love me, but that is my opinion on me. That is my opinion, but you know, you have some that say, "Larry, in my book you are number 2", some say 3, some say 5.
Brad Cooney: Larry, you defended the crown 20 times, you fought everyone in front of you, you still hold the record for being the reigning champion for the longest period of one time. I would guess that should qualify you to be right up there man.
Larry Holmes: You know, I appreciate that, but you know what, if someone says I'm not number one, I don't care. Ali says he is the greatest, but in my opinion he is not. When people mention my name with Ali's, I like that. I will be with Ali on Thursday in fact.
Brad Cooney: Champ, who do you think is the best Heavyweight out there right now.
Larry Holmes: I have to go with Klitschko, but if you can get him after 7 rounds, who knows. The problem is, nobody can get him past 7, so right now, it is him.
Brad Cooney: Any thoughts on the Tyson/Williams fight coming up?
Larry Holmes: Man, 59 seconds. Tyson. Mike can still fight and if you don't have long arms and a good jab and punching power, Mike will eat you up. I don't see Williams as having any of that, plus I don't think they are going to give Tyson anyone that can hurt him and Mike knows that. I think Tyson's heart is beating faster now. He wants to show people that he can fight, and that he can come back an win.
Brad Cooney: Larry, Freddie Roach seems to have Tyson really focused and ready for this fight.
Larry Holmes: Freddie Roach is a good guy. He is a nice guy, but Mike won't do what he wants him to do. Freddie will not be able to control, and contain Mike Tyson. He is young, and Mike is not going to have a lot of respect for him.
Brad Cooney: Champ, so you don't think the Freddie Roach, Mike Tyson marriage is going to last too long?
Larry Holmes: No, I don't think so because Freddie is not big enough to control Mike. He has been around a lot of black people, but he hasn't been around a lot of black people like Mike Tyson (laughing). I know Freddie from when he was a little boy, back when he was fighting.
Brad Cooney: Champ, I have a few questions from our readers... Brian Davis from Flowood, Mississippi would like to know... "if you could go back in time, and rematch any of your opponents., who would it be, and why?
Larry Holmes: Well, I would like to fight Mike Tyson. He was big, and short at the same time, but strong and he fought me when I was not anything. I was out for years and not in shape, if I could be in condition, and younger, I know I could have beat him. When I fought him, I did it only for the money back then. If I could go back in time, and do it again, things would be different.
Brad Cooney: Marcus from Albuquerque, New Mexico would like to know, would you ever consider training fighters?
Larry Holmes: Only if I get someone that is really serious and really wants to do it. I got into it once and people told me they wanted to. I spent a lot of money on them and then they realized that they didn't want to do it. I do have about 30 guys in my gym, but it would have to be a special occasion.
Brad Cooney: Last question champ. When boxing fans look back on the career of Larry Holmes, how do you want them to remember you?
Larry Holmes: Well, I just want to let them know that I was a good man, a good human being, a good father and a good husband. I did it all my way. I made it when people put me down and at my age at 54 yrs old, I am still doing it. I am happy.
Brad Cooney: Larry to me, you are a world class man ... period. You held the title with class. It was an honor to speak with you. Thank you very much for doing this interview with me.
Larry Holmes: Brad, thank you!
Visit Larry Holmes web-site at www.larryholmes.com
*Special thanks goes out to Jay Newman for helping me set up this interview.
Email Brad Cooney with comments at bradcooney1@bellsouth.net