Why didn’t Holmes ever unify?

SPORTS OF THE TIMES; LARRY HOLMES AND FREE AGENCY
By Dave Anderson
Published: December 20, 1983

In recent years, boxing champions have been identified as if they were physicians or scholars, with initials resembling degrees.

For five and a half years, Larry Holmes was the heavyweight champion, W.B.C., as in World Boxing Council, not to be confused with W.B.A., as in World Boxing Association. But now he is Larry Holmes, heavyweight champion, I.B.F., as in International Boxing Federation, a new group of American boxing politicians struggling for stature.

Not that Larry Holmes needs any initials. With his 45-0 record (32 knockouts), he has earned acceptance by the boxing public as the only heavyweight champion.

But in changing political parties, so to speak, Larry Holmes has emerged as a free agent in much the same manner as baseball players are. No longer obligated to the promoter Don King, who has long been aligned with the W.B.C. legislators, Larry Holmes is free to talk to any promoter.

He's also free to promote his own bouts, notably a showdown with Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa, the current W.B.A. titleholder.

''I just want to be free,'' Larry Holmes was saying. ''I don't want a promoter telling me what to do.''

Larry Holmes wants to tell promoters what to do instead. But he no longer wants to work with Don King, and he is reluctant to work with Bob Arum, who deals mostly with W.B.A. bouts. In speaking of the possibility of promoting the Coetzee bout himself, along with others, he mentioned ''selling my rights'' for a $30 million guarantee.

''I've already talked to Coetzee,'' he said. ''I've offered him $3.5 million and a percentage.''

Because of Larry Holmes's new freedom, the New York area suddenly is being considered as the possible site of the Holmes-Coetzee bout, probably in June - either at Madison Square Garden or at Giants Stadium.

Larry Holmes is expected to confer tomorrow with John F. X. Condon, the president of the Garden boxing department.

''I want to negotiate with the Garden,'' the champion said from his Easton, Pa., office. ''I want to see what they offer.''

According to John Condon, the Garden is willing to let Larry Holmes's new promotional firm arrange the world-wide TV bonanza for a Coetzee bout. Larry Holmes also will be offered 40 percent of the Garden's live gate, potentially about $1 million. In return for holding the bout, the Garden would retain 60 percent of the live gate, potentially about $1.5 million.

''But there's one question that Larry has to answer,'' John Condon was saying yesterday. ''I understand that Don King has Coetzee.''

Larry Holmes declined to identify two independent satellite-TV executives who, he reported, have spoken to him about handling the TV rights for his bout with Coetzee.

''They're talking about having it at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands,'' the champion said. ''But it's nowhere near settled.''

Yet to be heard from is Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the site of virtually all the big-money title bouts in recent years. But what is settled is Larry Holmes's determination to be his own man. His new I.B.F. initials seem to stand for ''I've Broken Free'' from Don King, who once managed him early in his career and who as a promoter remained as his manager for all practical purposes.

''I was good for Don King, it just turned out the wrong way,'' Larry Holmes said. ''He made the money. I have no animosity. I'm just glad I'm free now from all obligations to him.''

According to Larry Holmes, he received only $4.5 million for his 13th-round knockout of Gerry Cooney in their 1982 title bout, which Don King, Tiffany Productions and Caesars Palace promoted.

Larry Holmes believes that Gerry Cooney received about $9.5 million, the amount that each reportedly had been guaranteed.

Cooney got more than I did, a lot more,'' Larry Holmes said. ''Maybe he had a better check on things than I did.''

Larry Holmes also felt short-changed when he agreed to defend his W.B.C. title against Greg Page of Louisville, now the No. 1 contender in the W.B.C. rankings, for $2.5 million sometime in February or March.

''I know I could get maybe $5 million for Page, but I signed an agreement and I was stuck,'' he said. ''I had to take the $2.5 million or go to court.''

Instead, at the W.B.C. convention in Las Vegas earlier this month, Larry Holmes resigned as its champion. Immediately recognized by the new I.B.F. as its champion, he is now talking about defending the I.B.F. title against John Tate, briefly the W.B.A. champion but no longer a respected contender.

''I'm taking offers,'' Larry Holmes said. ''They're offering me more for Tate than I would have gotten for Page.''

Eventually, of course, Larry Holmes hopes to unify the heavyweight title. He could do that by dethroning Gerrie Cotzee as the W.B.A. champion, then dethroning either Greg Page or Tim Witherspoon, who have been selected by the W.B.C. to duel for its vacated title.

''That's why I want to fight Coetzee in June, no later,'' Larry Holmes said. ''If his shoulder's not ready then, I can't wait for him. I'm getting old. I realize what everybody wants me to do - get old.''

Larry Holmes is 34 years old, not elderly yet but certainly not young. In all the boxing divisions now, there are only two undisputed champions, meaning those recognized by both the W.B.C. and the W.B.A., only two champions who don't require initials after their names - Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the middleweight champion, Michael Spinks, the light-heavyweight champion.
One of boxing's problems is its different champions in so many divisions - usually one for the W.B.C. and Don King, one for the W.B.A. and Bob Arum.

With so many champions, the TV networks always can advertise a ''title'' fight. But now that Larry Holmes is free, perhaps he can eliminate all those initials, all that murky alphabet soup that now has produced the current confusion of three heavyweight champions.

In one world, each division should have only one world champion.

 

SCOUTING
By Michael Katz
Published: December 24, 1983

Larry Holmes will fight Gerrie Coetzee sometime next year. There seems little doubt of that. But it's even more certain that the fight between the two world heavyweight champions will not take place at Madison Square Garden. And the fight may not be as big as some people, most notably Holmes himself, believe.

Holmes, who gave up the World Boxing Council belt but will campaign as the heavyweight champion of the fledgling International Boxing Federation, had said he wanted to promote the bout himself. Now, however, he says he is in the process of ''selling out'' his promotional interests.

The Garden will not be the buyer.

John Condon, the president of the Garden's boxing department, wants the fight in his arena. But that makes little sense economically. Condon estimated he could figure out a ticket scale for the building to produce a $2.5 million live gate, a figure that could easily be surpassed by a Las Vegas casino.

Holmes, when he was trying to put together a promotional group himself, hoped to interest the Garden in ''participating,'' but even then the champion's advisers were thinking more of going outdoors in Giants Stadium in June. Condon said his interest was solely in doing the fight at the Garden.

Condon agreed ''it's a terrific fight,'' but it may not be as terrific as Holmes expects. The 34-year-old boxer seems to think he can make between $25 and $35 million for facing the World Boxing Association's champion. This belief is not shared by most boxing industry leaders.

For example, Bob Halloran of Caesars World, who is in charge of buying bouts for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, said he thought Holmes-Coetzee was just marginally bigger than the recent Marvelous Marvin Hagler- Roberto Duran bout. Hagler earned approximately $5 million for that one while Duran got $1.5 million.

Halloran said he was ''very interested'' in the heavyweight showdown, but did not think it was in the same financial league as such previous Caesars Palace blockbusters as Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns or Holmes-Muhammad Ali and Holmes-Gerry Cooney.

 

HOLMES-COETZEE TITLE SHOWDOWN IS GETTING CLOSER
Michael Katz on Boxing
Published: February 22, 1984

The on-again, off-again Larry Holmes-Gerrie Coetzee negotiations are on again, and an ''agreement in principle'' has been reached whereby the two world heavyweight champions should meet later this year, according to Cedric Kushner, the South African's promoter.

''Nothing is signed, sealed or delivered,'' said Kushner yesterday. ''And a few days ago, I was fairly close to pulling my hair out. But all that's been resolved, and we're now talking about finalizing the agreement and reducing it to paper.''

Kushner represented Don King, his partner in Coetzee's promotions, during the negotiations with JPD Sports, which would promote the fight and is promoting Holmes's April 6 warm-up against John Tate. Kushner said he thought Coetzee-Holmes would take place in July before the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which open on July 28.

But a television source close to the negotiations said the bout was more likely to take place in September, a better month for closed-circuit and pay-per-view television sales. The most likely site would be Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.

Holmes, recognized as champion by the new International Boxing Federation, would reportedly make $8 million for the fight. Coetzee, the World Boxing Association's champion, would earn $3.2 million. Kushner and King, for selling the rights to Coetzee, would probably earn $2 millon each.

 

Holmes, like all God's children, was born unified and could never be un-unified under the Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

 

WITHERSPOON OUTPOINTS PAGE FOR TITLE
By MICHAEL KATZ

Published: March 10, 1984

With the two other titleholders at ringside, along with Muhammad Ali - a reminder that the world has survived three heavyweight champions before - Tim Witherspoon outpointed Greg Page tonight to become the third man in the current crowded picture.

The scheduled 12-round bout was to determine the World Boxing Council's successor to Larry Holmes, who resigned that title in December but was subsequently recognized by the new International Boxing Federation.

Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee, the World Boxing Association titleholder whom he is scheduled to meet later this year, were at opposite ends of the Las Vegas Convention Center ringside.

Ali was stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing induction into the Army. Subsequently, Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis won recognition as champions, but a majority of the world still acknowledged Ali.

Neither Witherspoon nor Page was a reminder tonight of Ali or Holmes in their prime, but Witherspoon, the aggressor throughout, started and finished strongly. One judge, Charles Minker, scored the fight a draw, 114- 114, But Jerry Roth and Lou Tabat favored Witherspoon, each by 117-111.

The 25-year-old Page, who followed Ali out of Louisville, was supposed to have been favored tonight. The No. 1 contender of both the W.B.C. and W.B.A., however, weighed in Thursday at a bloated 239 1/2 pounds, about 10 pounds over his best fighting weight and the odds, which had favored him by 9-5 at one point, dropped to 6-5, pick 'em.

Witherspoon, who weighed in at 220 1/4, or three-quarters of a pound more than when he lost a 12-round split decision to Holmes as a 6-1 underdog last May, did not need the extra roll around Page's waist to devise a fight plan.

''I plan to go downstairs,'' he had been saying all along.

Immediately, he went to Page's oversized body with solid right hands in the opening round.

Midway through, he combined a right to the body with a left hook to the head and Page hastily retreated.

In the second round, Witherspoon went not only downstairs but to the basement. A low right hand had Page doubled over momentarily and Witherspoon then went upstairs to the head with a chopping right and a solid hook.

Witherspoon was walking through Page's punches and in the third landed another solid right to the head that had Page retreating. Witherspoon was taking away Page's jab by holding his right hand crossed in front of his face, but at the end of the third round Page finally found the opening.

Witherspoon was vulnerable to left hooks and Page, who was doing most of his fighting off the ropes, landed two solid ones at the end of the third round that forced Witherspoon back.

The second half of the fourth round was fought in one neutral corner, Page's back to the ropes and the two large men leaning on each other. Page kept firing right uppercuts, but Witherspoon responded with left hooks.

Witherspoon, who had opened his mouth for air as early as the second round, was throwing fewer and fewer punches. In the fifth round, though he landed a couple of solid rights, he did little else but lean.

He did land some solid right hands at the beginning of the sixth round, but Page again showed that he has a solid chin.

''I knew if I could get him in the center of the ring, I knew I could knock him out,'' said Witherspoon. ''But he wouldn't let me.''

The crowd of about 6,000 was booing often as the two fighters became more and more sluggish.

"I always told you neither of them could fight,'' said Larry Holmes. Someone asked Holmes during the middle of the fight who was ahead in the fight and he said, ''Where's there a fight.''

Witherspoon, who looked more out of shape now than Page's stomach, landed some more solid blows in the seventh. But, cut on the lip, his mouth open, he seemed discouraged when Page just shook them off and started dancing for the first time since early in the fight. In most jurisdictions, however, points are not awarded for taking punches but for landing them.

In the eighth round, when Page landed a light punch as Referee Mills Lane was breaking a clinch, Witherspoon angrily cocked his right hand and let go a chopping punch over Lane's arms to Page's head. But Page, jabbing more effectively now and hurting Witherspoon with an occasional body punch, landed more blows when the referee was not in the way.

Page landed a solid left hook to the side of the head, his best punch of the fight, midway through the ninth round. Witherspoon charged gamely forward.

The 26-year-old Witherspoon, who has been boxing for less than five years, came into tonight's fight with a 17-1 record with 12 knockouts. Page took a 23-1 record with 18 knockouts into the bout.

After the fight, Page talked about quitting. ''This is my retirement, man,'' said the loser, nearly in tears. ''I'm through with it. It's not worth it.''

 

SPORTS OF THE TIMES; THE BOX-OFFICE FIGHT SANCTION
By Dave Anderson
Published: March 29, 1984

They had arrived without a nod at each other, without even a glance.

After the bacon and eggs in the Grand Hyatt ballroom yesterday, they were sitting up on the dais, each on one side of the lectern and about 10 feet apart. But each was studiously avoiding the other. Larry Holmes, in a gray double-breasted suit, wearing a red tie, and with a thick diamond bracelet glittering on his right wrist, leafed through a boxing magazine. Gerrie Coetzee, wearing a soft-brown suit and a brown tie, chatted with his adviser, Cedric Kushner, and his trainer, Jackie McCoy.

Strangely, the two heavyweight boxers had never been introduced. Whenever the opportunity occurred in the three years Gerrie Coetzee has fought here, Larry Holmes had always snubbed him.

''Holmes had this thing about me being a racist, being from South Africa, being white; that's what I heard,'' Gerrie Coetzee would explain later. ''But time changes everything.''

So does money. Larry Holmes is understood to be guaranteed about $8 million, with Gerrie Coetzee receiving $4 million, for their June 8 title fight in Las Vegas, Nev., with or without a World Boxing Association sanction. And now Gerrie Coetzee got up to speak.

''I've never met Larry Holmes,'' he said, ''but I'd like to meet him in the ring on June 8 and show him what I think of him.''

In his thick accent, the 28-year-old W.B.A. champion began teasing Larry Holmes, now the champion of the new International Boxing Federation, about having defended the World Boxing Council title against Alfredo Evangelista, Lucien Rodriguez and Scott Frank - three unimposing challengers. With a smile, Larry Holmes jumped up and shook hands with his next opponent.

''Get it now, this is it,'' Larry Holmes suggested to photographers. ''Keep on talking, I like that.''

''Well, Larry,'' responded Gerrie Coetzee, flashing a sly smile, ''that's all you're gonna like.''

The box-office buildup, the only sanction that any fight needs, had begun. Neither Larry Holmes nor Gerrie Coetzee is concerned that the W.B.A., which is meeting tomorrow in Las Vegas, may withhold recognition and strip the South African of his title. Both know that their bout will be sanctioned by the public at the box offices of the 25,000-seat arena at Caesars Palace and at closed-circuit locations. Any other sanction, even by the new I.B.F., is so much alphabet soup.

''In a year or two down the line,'' Larry Holmes said, ''the W.B.C. and the W.B.A. won't exist.''

Three months ago, Larry Holmes abdicated as the W.B.C. champion. That organization had threatened to strip him of the title because he wouldn't defend it against Greg Page, who was recently outpointed by Tim Witherspoon to determine the new W.B.C. champion. But even as the W.B.A. titleholder, Gerrie Coetzee, like the boxing public, recognizes Larry Holmes, undefeated in 45 bouts, with 32 knockouts, as the only true world heavyweight champion.

''Larry Holmes is the real champion,'' the South African was saying now after all the speeches. ''The only way to get recognition is by beating Larry Holmes.''

Gerrie Coetzee has a 29-3-1 record, with 18 knockouts, including a 10th- round knockout of Michael Dokes 6 months ago for the W.B.A. title. His 3 losses were a 15-round decision to John Tate for the W.B.A. title in 1979, a 13th-round knockout by Mike Weaver (then the W.B.A. champion) in 1980, and a 10-round decision to Renaldo Snipes in 1981. His draw was with Pinklon Thomas early last year.

Gerrie Coetzee is not a clever boxer. But he can punch, especially with his ''bionic'' right hand, whose metacarpal bones were fused together in a 1978 operation. Until then, he had fractured his hand nine times and needed more than a dozen operations.

''I've seen Holmes knocked down by Renaldo Snipes and Mike Weaver,'' the South African said. ''I fought both of those guys. If they can put him down, so can I. I'm going to hit him sometime in the 15 rounds. He's good. He's got a good jab to set up a quick overhand right. But I'll work on that, I'll be prepared for that. I'm good at reading my opponents in the first few rounds.''

Larry Holmes predicted a ninth-round knockout, but he sounded more involved in an eventual court fight over money he contends he never received from Don King, his former promoter, than with his June 8 fight.

''This is a different kind of press conference, no fuzzy hair,'' Larry Holmes said, referring to Don King's electrified coiffure. ''No Don King here, no Bob Arum here. Arum says fighters don't deserve all the money, but the promoters don't deserve all the money they get. Nobody would pay to see Don King fight, unless he fought Arum. Or unless he set his hair on fire.''

Larry Holmes broke with Don King in a squabble over the champion's share of the purses from several of his title fights.

''Don King was one of the people telling me not to shake hands with Coetzee all those years, because of how black people were treated in South Africa,'' Larry Holmes said, ''and now Don's signed up Coetzee to a promotional contract.''

Don King is expected to earn at least $2.6 million from the June 8 bout. From at least $8 million, he will pay $3.2 million to Gerrie Coetzee and $2.2 million to Cedric Kushner.

''Don King is talking about stopping the fight unless he's paid his $750,000 advance and a letter of credit for the rest of his money,'' says Kenny Bounds of JPD Sports, a Dallas-based television network that is co-promoting the bout with Murad Muhammad and the Caesars World organization. ''But he has nowhere to go legally, although he could hinder our closed-circuit plans.''

Kenny Bounds is boxing's newest promoter, its new act.

''Being new in the business, yes, I think I can make a profit,'' said this blond former Georgia Tech football player, who resembles Tommy Nobis, the onetime Atlanta Falcon linebacker. ''But check with me after the fight.''

Check with all those alphabet-soup boxing organizations, too. The more there are, the less the public cares which one is which. But after the June 8 fight, the public will know who the world heavyweight champion is, with or without initials.

 

HOLMES-COETZEE FIGHT IS OFF
By MICHAEL KATZ
Published: May 16, 1984

The Larry Holmes-Gerrie Coetzee heavyweight title fight, scheduled for June 8 in Las Vegas, Nev., ran out of money and time yesterday and was called off, not by the promoters or fighters, but by the site.

Caesars Palace, where the bout was to have been held in a just-constructed 26,000-seat outdoor arena, made the announcement after almost three days of talks failed to save the fight.

Five hours after the announcement by the casino-hotel, Holmes was measured for a dress suit in his suite at the Sahara, down the strip from Caesars. The undefeated champion, who was unavailable to talk, was reportedly still confident the fight would go on, somewhere, sometime.

''All this proves is that Caesars doesn't want the fight,'' Dick Lovell, a Holmes spokesman, said last night.

However, a source close to the last two days of the talks aimed at saving the fight, said that ''with Caesars' money out, the fight is 99 and 44/100 percent dead.''

''We are disappointed, as I am sure are many boxing fans around the world, that the fight will not take place because of a breach of contract by the promoter,'' said Bob Halloran, vice president of Caesars World. No explanation was given as to how the contract had been breached.

Kenny Bounds, head of JPD Sports, the promoter of the fight, had already paid out about $4 million. And with some projections of its eventual losses as much as $10 million, he said, ''Enough.''

He was hoping to sell stock in JPD to new investors, led by Dr. Edward McDonald, a California realtor who heads World Sports Productions of Los Angeles.

''I'm sure things could have been worked out,'' said Lou Falcigno of Momentum Enterprises, who was in charge of closed-circuit television sales for the fight. ''Caesars kept saying they needed answers to a lot of questions, and at 1 P.M. they just pulled the plug.''

Falcigno said from Las Vegas that it was possible the fight could still go on, but at a different site. He said that McDonald was ''one of several people'' still interested. There has been talk that Holmes might promote the fight.

If it ever takes place, it will probably be with a major cut in Holmes's purse, estimated at $12 million. JPD had also agreed to pay $8 million to Don King, who held promotional rights to Coetzee, million, from which the promoter was to have paid the World Boxing Association champion from South Africa a $3.5 million purse.

Halloran said he had heard from promoters of the Thomas Hearns-Roberto Duran bout, which could replace Holmes-Coetzee as an attraction to the casino. Hearns was scheduled to defend his World Boxing Council junior-middleweight title June 15 in the Bahamas. That bout, having trouble selling to closed-circuit and pay television, was reported heading elsewhere, to Miami or Houston. Shelly Saltman, one of its promoters, was on his way to Las Vegas last night.

Holmes won his original World Boxing Council title in 1978 in Caesars Palace, and has had his biggest fights there (against Muhammad Ali and Gerry Cooney). But he thought the casino favored Cooney in its treatment when they both trained there for the 1982 bout.

Holmes's last fight, a one-round knockout of Marvis Frazier, was held at Caesars, but he has been staying at the Sahara while training.

Bounds, a newcomer to boxing who also lost money on the recent Wilfredo Gomez-Juan LaPorte bout for the W.B.C. featherweight title, said that any new Holmes-Coetzee backer would want to ''change things.''

 

HOPES RISING FOR HOLMES-COETZEE FIGHT
By MICHAEL KATZ
Published: May 17, 1984

While efforts were made last night to save the financially-troubled Larry Holmes-Gerrie Coetzee heavyweight title fight by moving it to an arena named for bankers, Holmes said he would be willing to put up money for it. One way or the other, it seemed the fight would go on as scheduled June 8 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Holmes, at a news conference there, said it was still possible the bout would be held at Caesars Palace, which on Tuesday said the fight was off on the ground that the promoter, JPD Sports, had breached its contract.

Kenny Bounds, the head of JPD, met in California yesterday with members of Joe Louis Memorial Sports, which has promoted one card, on March 19 in Santa Monica. The company, named for the former heavyweight champion and including Martha Louis, his widow, on its board, also wanted to keep the fight for June 8 in Las Vegas.

It might be held at the new Thomas and Mack Center of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, an 18,500-seat (for basketball, probably closer to 20,000 for boxing) arena that opened last November with financing from the Valley Bank. The president and vice president of the bank are Perry Thomas and Michael Mack.

But Holmes said he would ''not count Caesars Palace out of the picture because of some rash move they made.'' Bob Halloran, a vice president for Caesars World, the parent company of the casino, attended the news conference and said he would be willing to meet with Holmes.

''But we'd like to get our investment back from JPD,'' said Halloran, whose company was believed to have paid $3 million into the promotion.

Holmes said he had taken a $2 million cut and would be willing to reduce his original purse of $12.3 million by half to save the bout, which would be his first defense of the International Boxing Federation title.

Bounds, who had already lost about $4 million, was interested in selling his shares in JPD. The fight, while apparently attractive, could not sustain Holmes's purse or the $8 million promised Don King for promotional rights to Coetzee, out of which the World Boxing Association champion from South Africa was to receive his $3.5 million purse. According to Lou Falcigno, who is handling the closed- circuit television sales for the bout, Coetzee had also agreed to a cut.

Last night, with Holmes's lawyer and Bounds present at the California meeting, a letter of credit for about $7 million, the amount needed to pay King, who has already received $750,000, was delivered to the Joe Louis Memorial Sports group. Mickey Mills, an executive assistant for Joe Louis Memorial Sports, said the organization was headed by Dr. Edward McDonald and Earl Stewart, whom she described as realtors. Stewart, she said, is a friend of Muhammad Ali.
Closed-circuit television exhibitors, who began selling tickets to the bout three days ago, were asked to hold their sites.

Meanwhile, Caesars Palace officials met with promoters of the Thomas Hearns-Roberto Duran fight for the World Boxing Council junior- middleweight title. It was originally scheduled for June 15 in the Bahamas, but because of financial problems there, a new site was being sought. With Duran reportedly still 20 pounds overweight and disillusioned by the retirement of Sugar Ray Leonard last Friday, and with Hearns so far unsigned, that fight had other problems, too.

 

Holmes-Coetzee Reset
Published: June 2, 1984

After months of hearing boxing's equivalent of ''the check's in the mail,'' Larry Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee have found enough money posted by the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas, Nev., and are now scheduled to fight Aug. 17.

The heavyweight title bout, which had been scheduled for June 8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas before the original promoters, JPD Sports of Dallas, ran out of money, will now be promoted by Bob Arum.

It will take place at the 19,000-seat Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The date, a Friday five days after the close of the Los Angeles Olympics, is tentative, said Arum.

Arum said: ''I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched, I don't have signed contracts, but it looks good.'' Arum said both fighters had signed letters of intent and were scheduled to meet him in New York to make the contracts final. Holmes was en route from Las Vegas to his home in Easton, Pa., today. Coetzee's agent, Cedrick Kushner, confirmed the deal.

Holmes will get an estimated $6.5 million. The champion was to have received a total of $12.3 million for the June bout. Coetzee will receive an estimated $3.2 million; he would have earned about $4 million had JPD been able to find new backers.

 

Holmes Says Pact Is Signed on Bout
By The Associated Press
Published: June 18, 1984

Larry Holmes said last night that he has signed an agreement with the promoter Don King to fight Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa.

The statement by Holmes comes after the promoter Bob Arum announced on June 1 that Holmes and Coetzee had signed letters of intent with him for a fight in Las Vegas on August 17.

Speaking by telephone from his home in Easton, Pa., Holmes said he reached an agreement with King at a meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., Saturday.

''King wants the fight in September or October.'' said Holmes, who added that the two heavyweights would fight for Holmes's International Boxing Federation title.

Holmes, who has criticized King publicly after a split with the promoter last year, said he signed with King because ''I wanted to get everyone off my back. He's the only one who can do the fight.''

King was unavailable for comment.

 

Heavyweights Are Stirring
By Michael Katz; on Boxing
Published: July 25, 1984

The World Boxing Council champion and 5 of the top 11 contenders, including the first 3, were present or accounted for yesterday when the heavyweight division, which had been as active as dinosaur fossils, made a reappearance. Not that there were any fights. It was only a news conference here for what Don King is promoting as ''The Night of the Blockbuster'' on Aug. 31 in Las Vegas, Nev.

''Finally, we have some heavyweights who are going to fight,'' said Seth Abraham, the president of HBO Sports, which will telecast the card. ''There have been more jokes about the heavyweight division than fights. But the heavyweight division is not extinct.''

Abraham and his subscription television network might have wondered. HBO had bought the first tape-delay rights to the Larry Holmes-Gerrie Coetzee title match when that was scheduled for June 8. It also had bought the rights to Gerry Cooney's comeback bout, scheduled five days ago.

Holmes and Coetzee are still no closer to fighting each other than Cooney is to fighting anyone.

But Tim Witherspoon is back. The brash, 26-year-old Philadelphian will make his first appearance since winning the W.B.C. title against Greg Page last March 9. He meets third- ranked and undefeated Pinklon Thomas, who has not been very busy, either. Thomas has fought only four rounds this year in knocking out a club fighter named Bruce Grandham.

In another 12-rounder, the top-rated Page, who has also been idle since March 9, will defend his United States Boxing Association title against undefeated David Bey, who is ranked sixth by the W.B.C. after only 13 fights in nearly three years as a professional. Bey has fought only once since last August, winning a 10-round decision March 9 from Leroy Caldwell.

Michael Dokes was not at the conference in a Marriott Essex House ballroom, but the second-ranked heavyweight, idle since losing the World Boxing Association title to Coetzee last September, will also be on the card, against an opponent to be named. So will 11th-ranked Mitchell Green, and King said he was hoping to get fourth-ranked Mike Weaver on the card.

The problem, King said, is finding another heavyweight. Renaldo Snipes, resting since last September, asked $500,000 to fight Weaver, evidently figuring that he was that rarest of heavyweights: one coming off a loss to Alfredo Evangelista.

The big fight in the division remains Holmes, the undefeated champion who now wears the International Boxing Federation belt, and Coetzee, the South African with the W.B.A. title. Holmes and King will be talking again tomorrow, but the 34-year-old champion said if his demands (anywhere from $5 million to $6.5 million) were not met, he would look for a couple of bouts this year against the likes of Tony Tubbs, Tony Tucker or John Tate, and then retire.

''Only reason I'm staying around is to aggravate the other champions out there,'' said Holmes, who knows that Witherspoon and Coetzee can never gain full recognition with him on the scene.

Holmes and King, by the way, are not exactly buddies again. The old alliance has been reunited solely for a possible Coetzee fight, and Holmes remains wary of King's salesmanship. ''You stay in a room with him for an hour, he'll con you into anything,'' said Holmes. ''That's why I talk to him over the phone. So I can hang up.''

Being champion has not been as enriching as Witherspoon had expected. He thought his first defense would mean at least a million. Instead, he will get $450,000 and is not happy with the way his manager negotiated with King. His manager is Carl King, the promoter's son.

''They say the money's drying up, but I don't think so,'' said Witherspoon, who has complained of his relationship with the Kings. ''I'm not going to speak on it now, but you know me. It can't go on but so long.''

Thomas, who has only a draw with Coetzee to mar a perfect record in 25 bouts, admits to a ''very negative past.'' He is a former heroin addict who said he ''cleaned up my life and I feel it's a storybook and motion picture.'' It will not be a happy ending, however, unless he learns how to defend better against right hands, Witherspoon's best weapon. Bill Prezant, who will help train

Thomas, said he knew all about his man's weakness ''and how to correct it.''

There are other new trainers. Dokes is now working with Bill Slayton, Ken Norton's former trainer, in Los Angeles and will also have Angelo Dundee in his corner. ''It's a real challenge,'' said Dundee, ''but I think Michael is still the best out there.''

Page, who apologized for his emotional outburst after the Witherspoon fight, has rid himself of his entire Louisville, Ky., entourage, and three weeks ago called Janks Morton, Sugar Ray Leonard's old conditioner. Morton, a disciplinarian, told the often-overweight Page, ''If you just want to be a challenger, get someone else to train you.'' Page will train now in Phoenix, where Morton lives.

''He doesn't need to learn how to box,'' said Morton of perhaps the division's most talented athlete. ''He needs to learn how to take care of himself.''

 

HEAVYWEIGHT UNITY IS GOAL OF THOMAS
By PETER ALFANO
Published: September 2, 1984

As he left the ring, Pinklon Thomas passed Larry Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee, two fellow heavyweight champions who were using this opportunity to trade insults and boasts during a television interview patterned after those in professional wrestling.

It was as if Thomas weren't even there.

And when he entered the interview room for a postfight news conference, his opponent, Tim Witherspoon sat down beside him - a sore loser who claimed that he had been thumbed in the eye repeatedly and said that he had won the fight anyway.

In the vaudeville world of professional boxing, rarely has the prestige of the heavyweight championship been as low. It is a division with three champions, and maybe none. Holmes, the designated champion of the International Boxing Federation who will be 35 years old in November, is in the final stage of an impressive career while Coetzee, who holds the World Boxing Association title, is considered an interim champion.

Now, after winning the World Boxing Council championship by a majority decision against Witherspoon Friday night at the Riviera Hotel, Thomas has the opportunity to show that he is more than just another young heavyweight passing through the swinging doors of the W.B.C.

''I consider Larry Holmes the real champion,'' Thomas said, ''but I want to go back to the Joe Louis era when there was one champ. When you ask now, 'Who's the champion?' no one knows. I want to be part of the reunification.''

Thomas's prospects appeared to delight the promoter Don King, although promoters have a way of finding virtues in all champions. Thomas, though, could be different. His successful effort to overcome childhood drug addiction and his dedication to boxing make him an appealing story. So, too, does the speak softly, Gary Cooper-like way that he handled Witherspoon's accusations on Friday night, a departure from the Ali-like, finger- pointing routines imitated by so many boxers.

In the ring, the 6-foot-3-inch, 216- pound Thomas is not yet polished, although Angelo Dundee - the trainer who worked in Thomas' corner for the first time - said that his left jab was the best among the heavyweights since Sonny Liston.

''He doesn't just flick it,'' Dundee said. ''He was rocking Witherspoon with it. That jab hurts.''
It was the jab that enabled Thomas to build up a big early lead through seven rounds, frustrating
Witherspoon, who occasionally turned southpaw to try to penetrate it and was penalized a point by the referee Richard Steele for hitting with the back of his glove. ''That was an illusion,'' Witherspoon said.

He only wishes that were the case for Thomas's jab. Thomas had just enough steam in the punch to hold off Witherspoon's late comeback that narrowed the scoring but hardly seemed to justify Hal Miller judging the fight a draw.

The other judges, Dalby Shirley and Duane Ford, scored it 115-112 and 116-112 for Thomas.

This is an instance, perhaps, when a boxer will grow into the title. The 26-year-old Thomas must work on using his right hand more often, which certainly would not detract from the jab but complement it.Although he is now 25-0-1 as a professional, he has not fought many top 10 fighters.

King envisions Thomas making his first defense agsinst David Bey, a newcomer who defeated Greg Page to win the United States Boxing Association championship in another feature match Friday night. The winner of a Thomas-Bey match would then face the Holmes-Coetzee winner to reunify the championship, King said.

Bey, now 14-0, is a hard-punching crowd-pleaser from Philadelphia. He stole the fight from Page in the 11th and 12th rounds when he doggedly pursued Page, who was content to dance away, thinking he had the fight won.

Bey is 27 years old and a former Army sergeant who joined the service to avoid getting into trouble. Thomas, however, was not as fortunate.

Thomas grew up in Pontiac, Mich., where he began experimenting with heroin when he was 12 years old. Thomas and his childhood sweetheart, Kathy Jones, were married when they were 17, but the responsibilities of marriage did not dissuade him for continuing to use drugs, he said.
Mrs. Thomas joined the Army to escape the ghetto and Thomas enlisted shortly afterward. He credits her with helping him eventually break the drug habit.

''We paid a lot of dues,'' said Thomas.
In his lockerroom on Friday night, his wife and son, Little Pinklon, had an opportunity to share the rewards. In a private ceremony involving father and son, Thomas handed Little Pinklon the championship belt. ''I promised you this, didn't I?'' the father said.

 

SPORTS PEOPLE
Heavyweight Problems The pending fight between the two undefeated heavyweight champions,
Published: September 11, 1984

Larry Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa, hit another snag yesterday when a Federal judge in Philadelphia blocked Holmes from entering into any contract to fight the World Boxing Association champion without granting a Virginia lawyer a 90-day right of first refusal. The injunction threw into doubt the plans of the promoter Don King to stage the long- awaited bout in Las Vegas, Nev., in November.

Holmes signed an agreement last Oct. 20 with the lawyer, Richard Hirschfeld, and his company, Champion Sports Management Inc., of which Muhammad Ali is board chairman, to promote the match.

 

SPORTS PEOPLE
Coetzee to Meet Bey
Published: October 10, 1984

Gerrie Coetzee, the South African who won the World Boxing Association's heavyweight title 13 months ago by knocking out Michael Dokes, will apparently make his first defense Dec. 7 against undefeated David Bey, who is coming off a 12-round decision over Greg Page.

Coetzee has been inactive this year because he was waiting for a bout to materialize with Larry Holmes, who holds the International Boxing Federation's title. The Dec. 7 show will be promoted by Don King and is expected to be televised by HBO. Buffalo is under consideration for the site.

 

The WBA wasn't a serious belt. Holmes title wasn't disputed in any real sense and the concept of undisputed wasn't in the vernacular yet. There were only 2 alphabelt belts and they typically agreed. After beating Ali Holmes was clearly the lineal champ. In any case Holmes had a win over Weaver and he had a win over Witherspoon and for over 3 years of his reign those were the alphabet champs.

Besides Weaver(who Holmes had beaten) no one defended a singular alphabelt belt twice during Holmes reign and only Pinklon Thomas and Dokes defended at all during this period, Dokes in a draw. These champs were not building up momentum where Holmes title was in dispute.