sports Battalion/Page 11 June 3, 1982 lard-luck Holmes plans to silence critics United Press International NEW YORK — World Box- ouncil heavyweight cham- Larry Holmes is like a man Ing a getaway car — people throwing roadblocks in |t of him and he keeps jiing through them. But Holmes always will be on un from critics whom he won’t give him the respect e deserves. jHolmes, unbeaten in 39 jhts, will make the 12th de- mse of his title on June 11 in gupas urlong l y EmM be interesting, to ' mthe least, but to Lar- KJolmes, who used to 'ork in a car wash, the Kuen! Gerry Cooney the getfjiist another fender to : dub as® albeit a $10 million Imgs foi I| knowt Ut '‘’ u « i thing! K tkandwiBVegas, Nev., against undefe- ipirit ofiled No. 1 contender Gerry ernessfBney, a murderous puncher H turns opponents to oatmeal ■ his famed left hook. as “inttjCooney is white. Holmes is tftheclii jjt Cooney is a power- n Stocii had gom iccts will jb in the! lalton d he wast! which ku I hen I ( continued from page 9) I be hi!., id win the tournament. That tnaninn pned like the closest the team Sever been. |I would love to have that n hapf) 1 |ingall through next season.” d the Af litJjougP! Tulsa ran away ing with h, (he NCAA championship i .353 ’ |inastounding 36 strokes over even Ail ' lond-placeTCU, Furlong sees he AIAW tourney as a closer the Bm» e . solid maiBWe should have played a lot enn. Berthan we played,” she said, ect ref lfter that tournament, we M.“Heiftped and looked back at it uemaiiill knew that even though it nageroB the worst we’d ever played, ill fortkltill finished fifth. season*Maybe it gave us a little in to manaftitive for the AIAW tourna- winter lent. We’ve heard that the irse at Ohio State is pretty |g. Tulsa’s players aren’t very Igoff the tee, and aren’t very ()ng long hitters. At Stanford was a pretty short course. Ice they (Tulsa) are so dead •ight down the fairway, it was ■heir advantage.” ■urlong, who finished sixth in I season’s national rankings, ■ been preparing for AIAW ■ionals by playing in the city ■mpionships in San Antonio. LSI ling into today’s final round, irlong has shot a 72-70 for a puncher. Holmes is a boxer- puncher. Holmes doesn’t like Cooney and Cooney doesn’t like Holmes. It will be interesting, to say the least, but to Holmes, who used to work in a car wash, it’s just another fender to dry, albeit a $10 million one. Holmes is used to obstacles. The biggest one was put in his path on June 9, 1978. After 14 rounds, then champion Ken Norton and Holmes had fought to a virtual draw. The fight would go to whichever won the 15th and final round. Two out of three judges gave Holmes that last round — one of the most action-packed ever in a heavyweight championship bout — as Holmes and Norton stood toe-to-toe testing each other’s shock absorbers. The car wash days were gone forever. Holmes was now WBC heavyweight champion. Now he sees a car wash only when he drives one of his Rolls Royces through one. Holmes is THE heavyweight champion although, on paper, there are two. Mike Weaver holds the World Boxing Asso ciation version of the title. Weav er could have been the WBC champion but a fluweakened Holmes rallied to stop him in 12 rounds on june 22, 1979, at New York’s Madison Square Garden in his third title defense. Holmes, 33, now owns a re cently custom-built house (11 rooms, 9 bathrooms), in Easton, Pa., where he has lived since 1956. The house has a pool in the shape of a boxing glove, a The fame and recogni tion of a Muhammad Ali elude Holmes, and it doesn’t help that his career followed All’s like a caboose on a freight train. sauna, a jacuzzi, a five-car gar age, a white baby grand piano, and a gym. For all Holmes has accom plished, he still comes across as a hard-luck guy. The fame and recognition of a Muhammad Ali elude him, and it doesn’t help that his career followed Ali’s like a caboose on a freight train. He derailed Ali in 11 rounds on Oct. 2, 1980, a hot night in Las Vegas when the three-time champion’s corner stopped the slaughter with Ali’s face a puffy, purple mess. Even that didn’t si lence the critics, who com plained he “beat up an old man.” A victory over Cooney, espe cially a knockout, could stop that talk. Along with his anger at his critics, Holmes will carry into the ring against the 25-year-old Cooney an announced personal dislike for the 6-foot-5 Irishman from Huntington, N.Y., and what he represents. “If he was black, he would not be in the position he’s in now,” Holmes said. “He hasn’t paid his dues. He hasn’t fought any con tenders. “If he was black, would he be made the No. 1 contender for beating Dino Dennis? Greg Page and Mike Dokes have fought better fighters. They deserve a shot more than he does. “If he was black, would he be making the money he’s mak ing?” Holmes asked. “Would I be splitting the money with him? I don’t begrudge him a thing. I couldn’t make the money if Cooney didn’t help me.” Besides resenting Cooney’s money-making power, Holmes has a genuine disrespect for Cooney as a person and points out that the postponement from March 15 to June 11 because of Cooney’s shoulder injury bears that out. “He’s like a little kid. He trainer, Victor Valle. ‘“My have fought me in March. I be- Z doesn’t have a mind of his own,” shoulder hurts. Tell me what to heve he had a shoulder injury C Holmes said. “That’s why I call do.’ They (Cooney’s handlers) tell him how to feel, how to think but that’s not the whole prob- lem, only half of it. The other ^ him ‘Looney Cooney’. ‘“Oh Victor,”’ said Holmes, and what to do. mimicking Cooney talking to his “If he was a man, he would half is with his mind. ” GRINS Hee/i QanAesi 4410 College Main Bry an “Welcome Back For The Summer!” HAPPY HOUR 400 DRAFT BEE EVERYDAY 1-7 P.M Beer Garden Available For Parties Open Daily 10 a.m.-Midnight Weekdays, 10-1 Weekends All Seats Just $ 2° PLITT THEATRES CINEMA l&ll named!! two-shot lead over Texas A&M teammate Susan Yantis. Furlong, who seems to have a knack for overtaking leaders on the last day of competition, defe ated Yantis in the 1981 city tour ney by rubbing out a three-shot lead with a final-round 72. Fur long won the San Antonio title in 1979, but missed the event be cause of her injury in 1980. She’s now defending the title she won last year. As for the professional career she’s striving for, Furlong said she’ll go through the usual proc edure starting next July. In order to earn an LPGA tour card, Furlong must shoot four qualifying rounds of 75 or better and must also pass a written test, all at a golf school which will be held in Houston. “The percentages are that usually only 10 or 12 of about 125 entries get their cards,” Fur long said. If she earns a tour card, Fur long won’t be entering her career without some experience among well-known profession als. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in 1981 and said she hopes to do so next month as well. “There’ll probably be about 80 pros and amateurs vying for 1st Prize *300 00 2nd Prize ’TOO 00 3rd Prize * 50°" Preliminaries Tues., June 8 Finals Tues., June 15 Thursday Night “COLLEGE NIGHT!” Free Admission & 1 Free Drink with College I.D. Men 81.00 Ladies Free 1600B South College Ave. about 13 spots in the Open,” Furlong said. “Last year, they cut the field in half after the first 36 holes. I had shot a 76 on the first 18 and I thought that was a terrible score. I thought, ‘Gosh, I’m going to have to shoot a 72 today to make the cut.’ “So, I set a score that I was going to try to shoot for, but I found out quickly that the more you worry about what you have to shoot, the worse you’re going to do. As soon as I was two or three over par, I figured that I’d have to get all birdies to get a low score, and I ended up shooting an 82.” So much for the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open. Kitty Holley, the Aggie women’s golf coach, sees a possi ble national championship for Furlong during her senior year. “I’ve been very pleased with what she’s done this year,” she said. “She had a good year, and I think she’ll have a great year next year. “She ought to win everything in sight — and she’s definitely going to try to.” r Skaggs shopping center/Across from A&M Friday & Saturday KTAM Midnight Show With some fabulous new friends among the least of which are: General GEORGE C. PATTON, HENRY K., ADOLPH HITLER and the future Dictator of the United States. 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