Showing posts with label holmes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holmes. Show all posts
"Cus had wanted me to beat him so bad," he said.
He explained how D'Amato took him and Jay Bright, a longtime member of the inner circle, from their home in Catskill, N.Y., to Albany to watch on closed circuit as Holmes retained the title in a 1981 destruction of the faded Muhammad Ali. He even recalled the exact date: Oct. 2.
"I was offended by how bad he beat up Ali," he said. "When we drove home to Catskill [about an hour from Albany], nobody in the car said a word, we were all so upset. The next morning, Cus was on the phone with Muhammad Ali after taking this shellacking from Holmes. He said to Ali, 'I have this young black kid who is going to be heavyweight champion someday and I want you to talk to him.'"
The young black kid got on the phone and told Ali, "'When I grow up, I'll fight Holmes and I'll get him back for you.' He was 14 years old.
When he did meet Holmes seven years later, Ali was a guest at the fight and whispered to him beforehand, "Remember what you said -- get him for me."
He explained how D'Amato took him and Jay Bright, a longtime member of the inner circle, from their home in Catskill, N.Y., to Albany to watch on closed circuit as Holmes retained the title in a 1981 destruction of the faded Muhammad Ali. He even recalled the exact date: Oct. 2.
"I was offended by how bad he beat up Ali," he said. "When we drove home to Catskill [about an hour from Albany], nobody in the car said a word, we were all so upset. The next morning, Cus was on the phone with Muhammad Ali after taking this shellacking from Holmes. He said to Ali, 'I have this young black kid who is going to be heavyweight champion someday and I want you to talk to him.'"
The young black kid got on the phone and told Ali, "'When I grow up, I'll fight Holmes and I'll get him back for you.' He was 14 years old.
When he did meet Holmes seven years later, Ali was a guest at the fight and whispered to him beforehand, "Remember what you said -- get him for me."
"My break finally came. If you could call fighting Ernie Shavers a break. I had no choice. I'd waited too long to get a fight that mattered. If it had to be Earnie Shavers so be it. I was ready.
Five years before I was an eager amateur, climbing into Gleason's Gym ring against this world-ranked puncher and feeling thrilled to have survived three rounds with him. Now he was all that stood between me and my chance at the Heavyweight Title.
Outside the ring, Shavers was one of the most likeable guys in all of boxing. And he was my friend. Over the years we'd sparred a bunch of rounds and hung out together. I'd found him to be an unassuming kind of guy with a nice sense of humor. Earnie was easy to be around, but push come to shove, make no mistake, he was all man.
I remember one time a bunch of us were playing cards in a Cleveland hotel room and, with thousands of dollars on the table and Earnie riding a winning hand, one of the guys tried to claim a mixed deal on account of an exposed card. Earnie wasn't buying bullshit. With one of his big-knuckled hands, he picked up the money and with a glare that might have made Sonny Liston nervous, said "This money belongs to me. Anybody says different, come and get it". Nobody said different. Not me. Not nobody."
(Larry Holmes)
Five years before I was an eager amateur, climbing into Gleason's Gym ring against this world-ranked puncher and feeling thrilled to have survived three rounds with him. Now he was all that stood between me and my chance at the Heavyweight Title.
Outside the ring, Shavers was one of the most likeable guys in all of boxing. And he was my friend. Over the years we'd sparred a bunch of rounds and hung out together. I'd found him to be an unassuming kind of guy with a nice sense of humor. Earnie was easy to be around, but push come to shove, make no mistake, he was all man.
I remember one time a bunch of us were playing cards in a Cleveland hotel room and, with thousands of dollars on the table and Earnie riding a winning hand, one of the guys tried to claim a mixed deal on account of an exposed card. Earnie wasn't buying bullshit. With one of his big-knuckled hands, he picked up the money and with a glare that might have made Sonny Liston nervous, said "This money belongs to me. Anybody says different, come and get it". Nobody said different. Not me. Not nobody."
(Larry Holmes)
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