Holmes unhappy with state of boxing -- Wellsville Daily Reporter

By Derrick Balinsky, Evening Tribune

Hey, boxing fans. Disappointed with the current condition of your sport? You aren’t alone.

Larry Holmes, a former world WBC and IBF heavyweight champion who attended the 37th annual Sports Night festivities in Hornell Saturday, discussed the state of boxing and its recent decline in popularity. His explanation, however, goes well beyond the sport’s inability to attract new fans or hold tight to the die-hards. Instead, Holmes points to boxing’s desire to expand with the creation of numerous “leagues” and federations. He said the United States’ inability to produce a heavyweight champ in recent years hasn’t helped either.

“I don’t like the way it is, I don’t like the way it looks,” Holmes said. “We don’t have an American heavyweight champion and that’s unheard of. We got guys coming into the sport from anywhere and becoming heavyweight champion of the world. American athletes, American fighters are better than that. But the downside to it is that these guys aren’t dedicated to the ring. They’re mainly just in it for the money and that can’t be the only reason to be in this sport. That’s why we have a lot of foreign champions now.

“There are two reasons why the sport isn’t as popular as it was. First, the average fan is tired of paying all that big money,” Holmes continued. “You’ve got Ultimate Fighting which is basically free sometimes and they’d rather watch that than somebody who is not going to represent. Only a few guys right now are representing boxing in a true light — Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley — guys like that. There aren’t too many and they aren’t in the heavyweight division, they’re in the lighter weights.

The heavyweight division? Gone.

“I just hope all the fans keep tuning in. This is the sport that made me, and it’s a great sport. Right now it’s on the downlow, but it’s going to come back.”

Holmes believes Pacquiao and Mayweather will one day get together in the ring. The winner? ESPN’s ninth most underrated athlete, who finished with a career record of 69-6, including 44 by way of knockout, believes Mayweather would have a decisive advantage.

“I would definitely watch it,” Holmes said. “I like Pacquiao and I would hope for him to win, but I think Mayweather would have the edge on him because he’s a boxer — he doesn’t stand still, you’ve got to find him. It would be a great fight, but I’ve got to stick with Mayweather to win the fight.”

Holmes has had his share of great fights, and great opponents. In 1980, he met up with the legendary Muhammad Ali, who was returning to the ring in an attempt to win the heavyweight title for an unprecedented fourth time. Ali appeared to be in great shape but was on medication for a wrongly diagnosed thyroid condition and was unable to recover his former skills or stamina. Holmes dominated the match and Angelo Dundee retired his fighter in 10th round, giving Holmes a win by TKO — the only nondecision loss of Ali’s career.

“Ali was a guy that was known and loved around the world. Not only that, but he was my friend,” Holmes said. “It was hard to get in the ring with a guy who had helped me out and given me an opportunity to grow. It was hard to fight. But for the money, for the title and to be recognized as one of the great fighters, you did what you had to. And that’s what I did.

“I haven’t seen Ali in two years. That was the last time that I was up to his house in Michigan and we had a great time together,” Holmes went on. “He wasn’t really well, but he was relaxed and he remembered me. We did a lot of talking and had a lot of fun.

“He’s a great guy, who will always be loved by me, and I know he will be loved by many. He’s made a lot of people happy during his lifetime.”

Other memorable matches came against Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, Leon Spinks, George Foreman and Mike Tyson to list a few.

“I got a lot of great memories with a lot of the guys,” Holmes said. “There are a lot of good things out there with those fighters that I fought. They were all great guys, who never forgot where they came from and they all remembered to give something back. That’s the way that I like it. After all these years we’ve all come together to celebrate those days. We get together and talk a lot of junk, but it’s great, man. Those guys are great to be around, we all have a lot of fun together.”

In the early 1970s Holmes’ career began as a sparring partner to Ali, but his career gained notoriety in 1978 when he upset Earnie Shavers to earn a WBC title shot against Norton. The 15-round bout was eventually awarded to Holmes based on a 2-1 judges’ decision. After 14 rounds the match was squarely even according to the panel.

“I was always athletically inclined. I never thought I’d be a boxer though,” Holmes said. “I did some boxing early, but I tried anything really — I played football, basketball, baseball — like any typical, normal kid would. When I dropped out of school I had no where to turn, but I still loved sports. With boxing, I didn’t need to have an education and I eventually met a guy by the name of Ernie Butler, who introduced me to boxing and the rest is really history.”

Source: wellsvilledaily.com