Love him or hate him?

Love him or hate him.....aww hell, how can you not love Larry Holmes candicy? Larry Holmes: Center Stage on Ali, Tyson, Foreman, King, Cooney0 Comments Say Something » 12/14/2009 10:51 PM ET By Lem Satterfield PrintAText SizeE-mail More Lem Satterfield Lem Satterfield is FanHouse's Boxing Writer and Editor. Former world champion, Larry Holmes, is his usually unfiltered self during Wednesday's interview with CenterStage on The YES Network, a regional sports channel based in New York. Holmes addresses aspects of his life dealing with his youth in poverty, serving as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali, his relationship with promoter Don King, and his thoughts on fighters such as George Foreman, Gerry Cooney, Mike Tyson, Earnie Shavers, Michael Spinks and Ken Norton. CenterStage is a one-on-one interview show taped in front of a live studio audience, whose host, Michael Kay, is the network's play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. Kay's past interviews on the one-hour show have included those with NBC's Brian Williams, former tennis star, Andre Agassi, former NBA great, Bill Russell, and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Below are excerpts from Larry Holmes' interview, to be shown at 10:30 p.m. ET: On why Holmes didn't want to fight an aging Muhammad Ali in 1980: Larry Holmes: No, I didn't want it, because I was put in a no-win situation. If I win, they say, 'Well, you know, Ali was old.' If I lost, they say, 'Well, I told you, he never had it.' So, you know, I was in a no-win situation, but I had to do it. And I won the fight, but I didn't hurt Ali, and him and I remained friends. He got paid a lot of money, and I got paid some money. On promoter, Don King, and his role as Holmes' financial advisor: Holmes: I advised myself, along with Don King. And Don was teaching me about money. And boy, I learned about money. And he gets one and two, three, four, and I get one. Don King is rich. I mean, it's a crime this man have so much money like that off of fighters. He made so much money ... off of us fighters. Mind-boggling. But he would teach you the game. If you don't know the game, he will teach you. You might be broke when you finished, but he'll teach you, and you'll learn the game. You hear me, Don King? I am talking about you ... On the role of money in his decision to fight Mike Tyson in 1988 -- two years after he had retired: Holmes: I knew that I couldn't beat Mike Tyson. But again ... Don King calls. I was off two years with my band, traveling around with Kool and the Gang, the Temptations, singing ding ding ding, you know? And drinking them -- Budweisers and stuff like that. And a knock on the door, Don King, three in the morning. 'Larry, open the door.' I said, 'Well, what are you doing, man?' King said, 'I want you to fight Mike Tyson.' I said, 'You must be crazy. I can't beat Mike Tyson. I ain't did nothing for two years.' King said, 'It's three and a half million dollars.' I said, 'Well, come on in.' He said, 'But you got two months to get ready for the fight.' I have two months? I said, 'Man, two months?' He said, 'Well, you have three and a half million.' And I said, 'I can't beat Mike Tyson in two months, man.' King 'Here is 500,000 cash.' I said, 'OK.' On getting knocked out by Mike Tyson: Holmes: He didn't knock me out. He knocked me down and the referee stepped over and said 'Don't get up, son.' I said, 'OK.' On pressure from the white community on Gerry Cooney to beat Holmes in 1982: Holmes: Well, and you know what happened? I am gonna tell you. Because white people jumped on him for losing, to me. They said, 'You was nothing. You ain't nothing. You let him beat you. You did this, you let him...' And that stayed on him. It bothered him and it boggled his mind. Because he wasn't successful in winning a fight with me. He had every white person probably in the world on his back. 'Cause he didn't beat me. 'Cause they was expecting him to win... And he was the greatest thing in the world until he lost. And then when he lost, they said, 'Well, he ain't nothing. Oh man, he ain't nothing.' Why he ain't nothing? Because he lost to a great guy like Larry Holmes. And he lost because he had all the pressure. Y'all helped me. White people helped me beat Gerry Cooney by putting all the pressure on him. And he had the world on his back -- I didn't. You know what I mean? I didn't care less. 'Cause I am used to it. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. Just pay me. And it was all new to him. Gerry...the last four, five years, I think finally got out of that and understood that. Because I have been with him, and we have been doing things together. And he'll tell you that he didn't want nothing to do with it. And he said it to people. Cooney said 'I don't want nothing to do with the racial stuff. It don't matter if you are black or white -- as long as you can fight.' On the racial undertones of his fight with Gerry Cooney, and racism in boxing today: Holmes: It was always racial, and it's still racial. There is always gonna be that. And when a black fighter fights a white fighter, it's always racial, it's always that. They always put it there for some reason or another. Maybe 'cause color against color, 'cause it ain't man against man. I mean, that's the way it should be -- but it's not. On his relationship with George Foreman: Holmes: Yeah, we pretend we get along. He don't like me. I know he don't like me. And I don't really care. Yeah. I don't like him, either. And I don't care if he knows that.