In his seven-year reign as heavyweight champion, Larry Holmes fought with an attitude.
A brooding, combative champion who had the misfortune of fighting in the shadow of Muhammad Ali, Holmes never felt he got his proper due."You probably didn't like me then," Holmes admits. "If I talked to you it was with an attitude. Things were a lot harder for me then than they are now."
When he caps his improbable comeback tonight by fighting Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight title, the 42-year-old Holmes is not only older but finally seems at peace with himself.
"I'm having fun," Holmes said. "I had fun fighting Ray Mercer and I'm going to have a good time fighting Evander Holyfield."
Holmes, a 4-1 underdog to capture the title he held from 1978-85, has been relaxed to the point of being almost gregarious in preparing for what will be his 25th heavyweight title fight.
During a sparring session a week ago, Holmes joked with writers between rounds and later crooned "Old Man River" while skipping rope.
"Bet you guys never thought you'd see me here at 55," he shouted.
Whether Holmes can still fight at the level needed to beat Holyfield, however, is another question.
His vaunted left jab still looks razor-sharp, but the reflexes have slowed with age. His ring savvy was enough to beat the inexperienced and one dimensional Mercer, but Holyfield presents far more problems.
"I can still do the same things I did before, just not as quick," Holmes said. "I know I'm a better fighter than George Foreman, Alex Stewart and Bert Cooper. If these guys can put him in the danger zone, why can't I?"
Holmes, who successfully defended his heavyweight title 20 times before Michael Spinks beat him by decision on Sept. 21, 1985, is 6-0 in a comeback that began April 7, 1991, with a first round knockout of Tim Anderson.
He fought four other non-descript fighters before taking on the then-unbeaten Mercer Feb. 7. In that fight, Holmes was rocked in the first round but dominated from the second round on to win a unanimous 12-round decision.
It was a performance that surprised Holyfield, who had agreed to meet the winner of the Mercer-Holmes fight, assuming all along it would be Mercer.
"He impressed me with some things he did at the age of 42, things you wouldn't think he would be able to do," Holyfield said.
Holyfield, of course, knows something about 42-year-old boxers.
His first defense of the title he won with a third-round knockout of a flabby James "Buster" Douglas, was against the 42-year-old Foreman. Holyfield took a unanimous 12-round decision, but drew criticism for his inabilitly to knock Foreman down or out.
"People will say this is not a fight, or Foreman wasn't a fight," said the 29-year-old
See FIGHT on D2
champion. "But I'll fight them all."
Holyfield's only other title defense was Nov. 23 in his hometown of Atlanta, where he stopped the journeyman Cooper in the seventh round.
Cooper, however, forced Holyfield to take the first eight-count of his pro career when he knocked him into the ropes and had him in trouble in the third round.
"It did something to me none of the other fighters have been able to do. It made me out of control for a moment," said Holyfield, who is unbeaten in 27 fights. "It makes you realize that at any given time anyone has a shot to put you in trouble."
Holyfield will earn $16 million for the scheduled 12-round fight in the 16,000-seat outdoor arena at Caesars Palace.