How did you get involved in the online casino business?

LARRY HOLMES – [My manager] Jay Newman hooked me into it. We knew that online gambling was illegal here in the States so we wanted to go offshore with it. We have some people that we partnered with and we’re offshore with that but we’re still not allowing betting not only at the sportsbook but gambling period from the United States.

Do you gamble on sports?

I don’t gamble on sports. With a friend of mine or two I might bet on a fight or something like that. I’ll tell you what, I’m probably the lousiest picker out there because every time I’ve bet on a fight, I’ve lost. So I don’t bet on fights any more but I go see fights. I don’t bet on any sports but I’m a blackjack player. I play blackjack, I play poker and stuff like that. But I don’t bet on sports. I’m not good at that. Like the World Series coming up, I watch it but I don’t bet on it.

Your casino and sportsbook is really popular with Spanish speaking people. I didn’t realize that you’re so popular in Latin America.

I fought 4 or 5 of my fights in Puerto Rico and I traveled a lot to Mexico. And I still travel a lot back and forth to Puerto Rico because I do gamble there. I go down to the Cabana Plaza down there in Puerto Rico and I play blackjack. It’s nice. I like gambling. I don’t do it enough to blow a lot of money. I probably blew 5 or 10 thousand dollars, that’s enough. See I don’t go crazy with it.

Have you tried playing blackjack on the Internet?

I played blackjack on the Internet for fun. I play my blackjack for fun and one of the things that I like about it now is that they’ve speeded it up and you can get into it real quick and it pays quick.

Do you have any other Internet plans?

We got the Larry Holmes souvenir shop that we’re putting on the Web. We also got some property that we’re selling on there. We are a business and we try to do a variety of things.

You can get that through larryholmes.com or betwiththechamp.com.

Yeah.

Any plans to fight again, Mr. Holmes?

Fighting again on November 17 at Biloxi, Mississippi. I’m fighting Mike Weaver again.

There was a rumor going around that you were going to fight Butterbean.

They’re trying to do that too. If they can put that together, well then fine. I’ll fight Butterbean. I think it would be easy.

How about George Foreman? Are you going to be able to get together and fight him?

I think not because I think George Foreman is a chump and a punk and I think he’s afraid of me. George Foreman is afraid of me. He thinks he’s Mr Shit on a Stick and it went to his head. He thinks he’s better than people. People don’t really know George Foreman. But the real George Foreman has always been afraid of me. Even when he were 789betting Champion of the World back in the day. 1978, 77, when I was a young guy coming up, he was champion then, he was afraid of me then.

He looked like he was getting serious there for a while, then he backed out of it.

He’s fat, he’s out of shape. I think, he’s 300 pounds. I don’t think he wants to do this again. I think he’s afraid. If he wants to go to the top, he’s gotta work his way to the top. I do what I gotta do to get the title shot. He wants to take short cuts. That’s why he was with the IBF and with the grand jury investigation and all that thing. He paid the commissioners off to get ranked. And I think that’s junk. I think the guy should’ve fought his way in there like I did when I fought Ray Mercer and everybody else.

Are you still trying to go for another title shot?

Well you know, that’s kinda like far fetched. Nobody wants to give me a fight not because I’m older than them but because they could lose their position. These fighters today are not the same as they were. These guys don’t want to fight anybody.

How does Lennox Lewis compare to you when you were the champ or to Muhammad Ali?

He wouldn’t have never made it. He’s a decent fighter. Right now he’s the best fighter out there because there’s no one out there. If he was in our time, you would never have heard of Lennox Lewis.

Do you see any young guys coming up that might be any good?

Well I take a look at them and they all look the same to me. No dedication, no discipline, no real self training or nothing. These guys just go out and throw punches. No fire, no skills, no jab, no side to side movement, nothing. Just punches.

How about outside of the heavyweight division?

You got the De La Hoyas out there, and the Shane Mosleys, and those guys but they’re not recognized enough to carry the ball. Like when I was there I had Sugar Ray Leonard, I had Marvin Hagler, I had Roberto Duran. I had Tommy Hearns. I had all those guys. But these guys ain’t got nobody to carry the ball.

Did you hear Oscar de la Hoya’s new CD?

I didn’t hear it but I heard some of it. He sang some of it on the Tonight Show or something like that. If you like Spanish music, then it’s okay. I don’t understand the singing but I listen to the music. When I go over to Puerto Rico and Mexico and places like that, and I hear the Latin music, I love it.

In your opinion, who is the best heavyweight fighter out there?

I’d say Mike Tyson when he’s not crazy and then Lennox Lewis. I think Mike Tyson would beat Lennox Lewis because of the determination Mike Tyson will bring to the fight. But there’s only two guys out there right now — Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. And Lennox Lewis won’t get that PR recognition because he’s not American. People prefer American fighters.

I just have one more question for you Mr. Holmes. It’s political season right now. I know you’re extremely popular back in Easton. Do you have any political ambitions?

No I don’t want to be into that because politics is all bullshit. I would want to try and do the right thing for people and there would always be some politicalness in there. For instance, let me say this. In our city here there are people behind in their water bills. They evict them out of their homes. They do it before winter comes but the thing is they let them get 3 years or 2 years behind and then they want to throw them out. You see, I’m against that. They paid 30, 40, 50, 100, 200 thousand dollars for their home and they can’t afford their water bill and all of a sudden they throw you out of your home if you don’t pay your water bill for $3000. Those things I’m against. So political, no I would make a lot of people angry with me but I’d probably make a lot of people happy.

You wouldn’t want to be mayor?

No, please no.

Are you supporting either candidate Bush or Gore?

No I don’t support anyone but I am a Democrat. And if I vote for anyone it will be for the Democrats. I’ll tell you one of the reasons why. Republicans are good people and I can make a lot of money with the Republicans because they think about big business but I’m for the little man I like to see the little man have a job, the little man have a home, the little man be more comfortable because rich people don’t stay rich but they may get richer. Let the little man make some money.