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Wealth & Money Quote by Larry Holmes

"Bob Arum and Don King can do their thing but if I fought for those guys and they put the money up like they are supposed to then I don't have a problem"

About this Quote

Larry Holmes is doing what great fighters do outside the ring: controlling the terms of engagement. On the surface, he’s talking promoters - Bob Arum and Don King, two titans with reputations for sharp elbows and even sharper contracts. Underneath, it’s a statement about power in an industry that sells violence but often treats the main attraction as replaceable labor.

The line “can do their thing” is a dry, almost amused shrug at boxing’s long-running circus. Holmes isn’t pretending the business is clean; he’s acknowledging the hustle as a given. What matters is the next clause: “if they put the money up like they are supposed to.” That “supposed to” is doing heavy lifting. It frames fair payment not as a favor or a negotiation win, but as an obligation - a baseline of professionalism. Holmes is asserting that the only moral metric he’s interested in is whether the check clears and reflects his value.

There’s also a quiet flex in the conditional: “if I fought for those guys.” It reminds everyone he has choices, that access to Holmes is the commodity. The closing - “then I don’t have a problem” - isn’t endorsement; it’s transactional tolerance. In a sport built on mythmaking, Holmes strips the romance away. Promoters can posture, scheme, and feud. The fighter’s stance is simpler: pay me right, and we can all play our roles.

Quote Details

TopicSports
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Holmes, Larry. (2026, January 16). Bob Arum and Don King can do their thing but if I fought for those guys and they put the money up like they are supposed to then I don't have a problem. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/bob-arum-and-don-king-can-do-their-thing-but-if-i-92923/

Chicago Style
Holmes, Larry. "Bob Arum and Don King can do their thing but if I fought for those guys and they put the money up like they are supposed to then I don't have a problem." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/bob-arum-and-don-king-can-do-their-thing-but-if-i-92923/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Bob Arum and Don King can do their thing but if I fought for those guys and they put the money up like they are supposed to then I don't have a problem." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/bob-arum-and-don-king-can-do-their-thing-but-if-i-92923/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Larry Holmes (born October 30, 1949) is a Athlete from USA.

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