By The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS – Former heavyweight champion John Ruiz is retiring.
The 38-year-old boxer said in a statement Monday he's leaving after an 18-year career. He was the WBA champ two times and finished with a record of 44-9-1, including 30 knockouts.
Ruiz was knocked down four times in a loss to David Haye this month. He hit the canvas twice in the first round, and his trainer ended the fight in the ninth.
Ruiz defeated three world champions — Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and Tony Tucker. He fought in 12 championship bouts and became the first Latino heavyweight champion.
He plans to move his family from Las Vegas to his home in the Boston area and open a boxing gym in the city.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Evander Holyfield. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Evander Holyfield. Tampilkan semua postingan
Senin, 26 April 2010
Selasa, 20 April 2010
Evander Holyfield Q 'n' A-Part I -- The Sweet Science
By Zhenyu Li, The Sweet Science
Father Time has been known as a merciless killer who diminishes the water supply to a fighter's fountain of talent with every tick of hand. Yet, when it comes to the Real Deal, the edge of time has been only blunted.
The fight was televised live in China by CCTV, the nation's largest TV network, and probably well over a billion people watched the bout.
The well-preserved Holyfield finished Botha impressively for a 47-year-old, despite harsh criticism and sarcastic reports being aimed at the event, in the US and everywhere else, for that matter.
I also saw the aging warrior came close to winning his fifth recognized heavyweight world title when he courageously fought against the much-bigger Russian giant and WBA reigning champion Nicolai Valuev in 2008.
I give him credit for soldiering on, for still holding on to the dream, and still competing at a solid level.
I was privileged to sit down quietly with the four-time heavyweight champion of the world and talked for half an hour with no interruption during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although this interview was conducted over a year ago, it spoke a mouthful for the newly-crowned WBF champion, and the material has never been published elsewhere, only on TheSweetScience.com.
Part I
"There's something special to be a man. I become the man who I am because I learned to work hard and not to quit." —— Evander Holyfield
In the first episode of this interview, Holyfield talked with me about his seemingly endless reservoir of inspiration, his take on the pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, his warrior mentality when facing tough oppositions like Mike Tyson, how he was influenced by the world-renowned Chinese Kung Fu master Bruce Lee and lots more.
Zhenyu Li: How are you, Evander?
Holyfield: Everything is just fine. Thank you, Bruce.
Zhenyu Li: Alright, let's get started. Actually, I've been watching and writing about you since 1996. You've had an outstanding, illustrious career, winning the world heavyweight champion titles four times, becoming the first universally recognized world cruiserweight champion, dethroning the mighty Mike Tyson. You've already gotten nothing to prove. At an advanced age, why do you still keep punching?
Holyfield: Well, you know, I got to say it based on my own experiences. I'll say it’s because my story is to inspire people.
I came up poor. My mother only had a fourth-grade education. My dad didn't have any education at all. But they were very structured. They worked hard. You know, they didn't complain. They didn't murmur. And they believe in Christ. My mother taught me, you know, in believing in Christ, that you not be prejudice; you treat people the way they wanted to be treated; be honest, do a great work and not to quit.
My mother told me that there's something special to be a man. You got to work your whole life. When you work, you'll find yourself always happy. My mother said, if you are busy, you'll find yourself happy, you'll find yourself accomplished.
In that theory, I see that it separates people. Some people try to work as less as possible, and they find themselves unhappy. People who work a lot find themselves always happier. You know, I became the man who I am because I learned to work and not to complain.
The difference between me and somebody else could be just that I work a lot harder than that guy, not because he comes as if it is a choice he makes. People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise.
Zhenyu Li: You've put on a string of epic battles that would long be remembered, your trilogy with Riddick Bowe, your two fights against Lewis, your trilogy with John Ruiz. I saw that you were a man of will. Some say that you are loved because of your pure grit. You really experienced difficulties during those fights, but you weathered the storms. How did you make that happen? What's your mentality at that time?
Holyfield: In a time when somebody does something that you do not expect, he kills you mentally. When a person hit you hard, bang, one or two shots, he wants to get you out of there, and you got to tell that man, nope! You have to get up and make the adjustment.
When you get hit, there'll be a reaction of your body, and the first thing on your mind is that I am hurt, so what do we do? Recover, your hands come up, and it becomes a sight game.
A sight game is that I am hurt, but I am to make you believe I am not even hurt, and with this confidence appearing on my face, I don't panic, otherwise your opponent will know that you are hurt. That's the whole art game in boxing. You gotta have the ability to properly show your emotions. If your opponent knows much about your thinking, he'll control you. So the whole big thing is not to put yourself in a position where your opponent can control you.
The whole thing is about, can you concentrate, can you focus, can you handle the atmosphere, and not cut it out; it's all this concentration thing that takes to be successful.
I am hurt, who knows it, but me, unless I'll let you know. If I let you know that I am hurt, you'll hurt me a lot harder; if not, you gotta think I am not going to waste a lot of those energy. Like my fight with Mike Tyson, he hit really hard. He wanted to get me knocked out. You know, it's a mind game, about concentration; it's about your mind, of what it takes to win. I have to use what I have to the best of my ability.
Zhenyu Li: Talking about concentration and mind game, you know, Sugar Ray Leonard once commented about Bruce Lee, that he respected Bruce Lee, firstly because of his mental stability. Have you heard of Bruce Lee, the Chinese Kung Fu master?
Holyfield: Oh, of course, he was... he was pretty much the star, ALL poor people, at least, LOVE Bruce Lee.
Zhenyu Li: Have you seen any of his movies?
Holyfield: Oh, Enter the Dragon and all that, you know, that's our favorite, it was just so fascinating.
The main thing about Bruce Lee is that, he was a little guy. And you know, his quickness, his aggressiveness, his explosive power, you have to be a great athlete to have all these, his body, his look, you know, all these things have to do with discipline and structure. He was able to go against the biggest guy, regardless of who he was. He can do so because of his confidence; his confidence is bigger than the stature, the size of the person; he makes you believe that size doesn't make a difference; what really matters are the confidence and your ability to make adjustment.
It works not only for Kung Fu; that what is life is all about. Life is not about size, or the skin color, it is about how good and how well-prepared you are to pass the test. Bruce Lee showed this to us.
There were a lot of karate people, but Bruce Lee stood high above everybody.
Zhenyu Li: Speaking of Asian fighters, what is your impression about them?
Holyfield: You know what, Thailand has some good fighters. There's a kid who is a champion now, Pacquiao (actually Pacquiao is from the Philippines). Oh, boy, he is big in America now. It thrills me that boxing has become what it is as a world sport. Once, you got world champions all from America, now you got them from all around the globe. You got some Russians, you got some Germans, you got one guy from Africa, and this Pacquiao. You got all these personalities coming in, and possibly, future champions from China. The sport is going global.
Zhenyu Li: From your fighter's perspective, what do you think are the reasons that Pacquiao stand far taller than the rest of the Asian pro boxers?
Holyfield: Well, you know, he has what is called determination.
Zhenyu Li: You just mentioned world champions from Russia, take Wladimir Klitschko for example, he is recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a position that you once took. But unlike you who always come forward, has an iron will and are difficult to be stopped, Klitschko won his matches all with a defensive, cautious style. He has never weathered a storm, like you. Some say that he has a glass chin. Why is such a big difference?
Holyfield: You know, what you believe is what you fight for. And what you believe is what you die for too. I die for what I believe. Some would say that this person is genetically better than another one. I don't think much of it. I think it's all about what you believe and what you've been trained to do.
Check back for Part II.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Father Time has been known as a merciless killer who diminishes the water supply to a fighter's fountain of talent with every tick of hand. Yet, when it comes to the Real Deal, the edge of time has been only blunted.
The aging warrior Evander Holyfield 
(43-10-2, 28 KOs) proved himself to be the greatest ring legend ever in history at 47, in my opinion, by stopping a bigger and stronger veteran title holder - Francois "White Buffalo" Botha (47-5-3, 28 KOs) on April 10 in Las Vegas.
(43-10-2, 28 KOs) proved himself to be the greatest ring legend ever in history at 47, in my opinion, by stopping a bigger and stronger veteran title holder - Francois "White Buffalo" Botha (47-5-3, 28 KOs) on April 10 in Las Vegas.The fight was televised live in China by CCTV, the nation's largest TV network, and probably well over a billion people watched the bout.
The well-preserved Holyfield finished Botha impressively for a 47-year-old, despite harsh criticism and sarcastic reports being aimed at the event, in the US and everywhere else, for that matter. I also saw the aging warrior came close to winning his fifth recognized heavyweight world title when he courageously fought against the much-bigger Russian giant and WBA reigning champion Nicolai Valuev in 2008.
I give him credit for soldiering on, for still holding on to the dream, and still competing at a solid level.
I was privileged to sit down quietly with the four-time heavyweight champion of the world and talked for half an hour with no interruption during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although this interview was conducted over a year ago, it spoke a mouthful for the newly-crowned WBF champion, and the material has never been published elsewhere, only on TheSweetScience.com.
Part I
"There's something special to be a man. I become the man who I am because I learned to work hard and not to quit." —— Evander Holyfield
In the first episode of this interview, Holyfield talked with me about his seemingly endless reservoir of inspiration, his take on the pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, his warrior mentality when facing tough oppositions like Mike Tyson, how he was influenced by the world-renowned Chinese Kung Fu master Bruce Lee and lots more.
Zhenyu Li: How are you, Evander?
Holyfield: Everything is just fine. Thank you, Bruce.
Zhenyu Li: Alright, let's get started. Actually, I've been watching and writing about you since 1996. You've had an outstanding, illustrious career, winning the world heavyweight champion titles four times, becoming the first universally recognized world cruiserweight champion, dethroning the mighty Mike Tyson. You've already gotten nothing to prove. At an advanced age, why do you still keep punching?
Holyfield: Well, you know, I got to say it based on my own experiences. I'll say it’s because my story is to inspire people.
I came up poor. My mother only had a fourth-grade education. My dad didn't have any education at all. But they were very structured. They worked hard. You know, they didn't complain. They didn't murmur. And they believe in Christ. My mother taught me, you know, in believing in Christ, that you not be prejudice; you treat people the way they wanted to be treated; be honest, do a great work and not to quit.
My mother told me that there's something special to be a man. You got to work your whole life. When you work, you'll find yourself always happy. My mother said, if you are busy, you'll find yourself happy, you'll find yourself accomplished.
In that theory, I see that it separates people. Some people try to work as less as possible, and they find themselves unhappy. People who work a lot find themselves always happier. You know, I became the man who I am because I learned to work and not to complain.
The difference between me and somebody else could be just that I work a lot harder than that guy, not because he comes as if it is a choice he makes. People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise.
Zhenyu Li: You've put on a string of epic battles that would long be remembered, your trilogy with Riddick Bowe, your two fights against Lewis, your trilogy with John Ruiz. I saw that you were a man of will. Some say that you are loved because of your pure grit. You really experienced difficulties during those fights, but you weathered the storms. How did you make that happen? What's your mentality at that time?
Holyfield: In a time when somebody does something that you do not expect, he kills you mentally. When a person hit you hard, bang, one or two shots, he wants to get you out of there, and you got to tell that man, nope! You have to get up and make the adjustment.
When you get hit, there'll be a reaction of your body, and the first thing on your mind is that I am hurt, so what do we do? Recover, your hands come up, and it becomes a sight game.
A sight game is that I am hurt, but I am to make you believe I am not even hurt, and with this confidence appearing on my face, I don't panic, otherwise your opponent will know that you are hurt. That's the whole art game in boxing. You gotta have the ability to properly show your emotions. If your opponent knows much about your thinking, he'll control you. So the whole big thing is not to put yourself in a position where your opponent can control you.
The whole thing is about, can you concentrate, can you focus, can you handle the atmosphere, and not cut it out; it's all this concentration thing that takes to be successful.
I am hurt, who knows it, but me, unless I'll let you know. If I let you know that I am hurt, you'll hurt me a lot harder; if not, you gotta think I am not going to waste a lot of those energy. Like my fight with Mike Tyson, he hit really hard. He wanted to get me knocked out. You know, it's a mind game, about concentration; it's about your mind, of what it takes to win. I have to use what I have to the best of my ability.
Zhenyu Li: Talking about concentration and mind game, you know, Sugar Ray Leonard once commented about Bruce Lee, that he respected Bruce Lee, firstly because of his mental stability. Have you heard of Bruce Lee, the Chinese Kung Fu master?
Holyfield: Oh, of course, he was... he was pretty much the star, ALL poor people, at least, LOVE Bruce Lee.
Zhenyu Li: Have you seen any of his movies?
Holyfield: Oh, Enter the Dragon and all that, you know, that's our favorite, it was just so fascinating.
The main thing about Bruce Lee is that, he was a little guy. And you know, his quickness, his aggressiveness, his explosive power, you have to be a great athlete to have all these, his body, his look, you know, all these things have to do with discipline and structure. He was able to go against the biggest guy, regardless of who he was. He can do so because of his confidence; his confidence is bigger than the stature, the size of the person; he makes you believe that size doesn't make a difference; what really matters are the confidence and your ability to make adjustment.
It works not only for Kung Fu; that what is life is all about. Life is not about size, or the skin color, it is about how good and how well-prepared you are to pass the test. Bruce Lee showed this to us.
There were a lot of karate people, but Bruce Lee stood high above everybody.
Zhenyu Li: Speaking of Asian fighters, what is your impression about them?
Holyfield: You know what, Thailand has some good fighters. There's a kid who is a champion now, Pacquiao (actually Pacquiao is from the Philippines). Oh, boy, he is big in America now. It thrills me that boxing has become what it is as a world sport. Once, you got world champions all from America, now you got them from all around the globe. You got some Russians, you got some Germans, you got one guy from Africa, and this Pacquiao. You got all these personalities coming in, and possibly, future champions from China. The sport is going global.
Zhenyu Li: From your fighter's perspective, what do you think are the reasons that Pacquiao stand far taller than the rest of the Asian pro boxers?
Holyfield: Well, you know, he has what is called determination.
Zhenyu Li: You just mentioned world champions from Russia, take Wladimir Klitschko for example, he is recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a position that you once took. But unlike you who always come forward, has an iron will and are difficult to be stopped, Klitschko won his matches all with a defensive, cautious style. He has never weathered a storm, like you. Some say that he has a glass chin. Why is such a big difference?
Holyfield: You know, what you believe is what you fight for. And what you believe is what you die for too. I die for what I believe. Some would say that this person is genetically better than another one. I don't think much of it. I think it's all about what you believe and what you've been trained to do.
Check back for Part II.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Older fighters shouldn't necessarily be dismissed -- The Ring
By William Dettloff, The Ring
It was hard to peruse any boxing coverage at all over the last couple weeks without happening on one diatribe or another about how we all should be ashamed of the back-to-back atrocities titled Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield-Frans Botha.
From the hysteria, you would have thought the Nevada State Athletic Commission had sanctioned matches pitting rabid wolverines against baskets of puppies. And that the promoters put it on pay-per-view, charged $49.99 and forced everyone to watch.
And in the days since, many otherwise reasonable journalists and fans have called for - nay, all but demanded -- that all the fighters involved retire posthaste, lest we be forced ever again to witness the awful degradation and indignities that accompany aging in professional athletes.
Well, not all of them. No one cares what Botha does -- not here in the United States, anyway. He’s South African, has always seemed rather a buffoon and the platinum goatee gives him a sinister look many of us find unsettling.
So let “The White Buffalo” fight well into his dementia years. Who cares?
But the others -- Hopkins, Jones, Holyfield -- should not only be forced into retirement, but banned from any activity that doesn’t involve complaining about Democrats and watching The Price is Right. So say the majority.
The majority have forgotten that a mere two fights ago, Hopkins, already well into his 40s, took apart then-26-year-old, undefeated Kelly Pavlik.
Conveniently dismissed too is the inconvenient reality that going into the Jones fight, Hopkins was ranked in the upper Top 10 of any credible pound-for-pound list.
He beat Jones by a wide margin and his reward has been a nearly universal call to drop him entirely from all pound-for-pound rankings (a call ignored, I’m proud to note, by THE RING editor Nigel Collins) and a suggestion by his own promoter to have a serious talk with family, which is code for “stop bothering us and retire already.”
Why? Because it was an abominably ugly fight?
Can any of you name more than one fight out of Hopkins’ last eight or nine that wasn’t ugly? Does being in an awful fight mean he’s too old to compete?
“There’s no question Bernard Hopkins is still competitive,” Greg Sirb, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission told RingTV.com. Hopkins outpointed Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia in December.
Sirb said his commission uses a four-pronged approach when it considers granting license to older fighters: Their medicals; their boxing record, particularly their most recent record; the matchup itself; and then the age of the fighter.
“If you put all those four together, a commission should be able to make a good decision,” he said. “Is he medically fit? Does his record show that he’s still competitive? Is the matchup worthy? It may not be a match between the two best guys in the world, but is the matchup, irrespective of anything else, competitive?”
With that criteria, it’s impossible to deny Hopkins a license or not sanction Hopkins-Jones, regardless of how old they are.
“You cannot make a sweeping statement, anybody over 35, anybody over 40, is not allowed to fight. That’s ridiculous,” Sirb said.
Jones’ knockout loss to Danny Green makes his a more-complicated case even though sometimes guys that are smack in the middle of their prime get hit on the sweet spot and go to sleep.
But consider this: Three out of Jones’ four losses over the last five years were to Antonio Tarver, Joe Calzaghe and now Hopkins -- an elite group. All were decision losses.
If he were a perennial contender, say a Rocky Juarez type rather than the game’s former pound-for-pound king, and in between those losses had beaten Jeff Lacy, Omar Sheika, Felix Trinidad and Anthony Hanshaw, would you still be on your soap box?
Clearly Jones isn’t what he used to be. Who is?
Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, in whose jurisdiction the subject fights took place, told RingTV.com that decline in a fighter’s skill level is not germane to the question of license renewal.
“That’s not relevant unless the reason for that is something we need to know about,” he said. “Let’s say a guy suffered a severe shoulder injury and never got back to where he needed to be and is still being bothered by that shoulder injury. Or it might be something neurologically that caused him to slow down. And you can see this guy is really messed up. That’s one thing.
“But to say a guy shouldn’t be re-licensed just because he’s not as good as he used to be? Then every fighter should lose his license after the best fight of his career.”
Kizer said that in Nevada, every fighter born in 1974 or before is subjected to a series of medical tests in addition to the tests all fighters receive. Then he reviews three criteria: how well the fighter has done in his career, how well he’s done lately, and how many times he’s been stopped.
For Hopkins and Jones, Kizer went the additional step of reviewing recent video that showed the fighters speaking and compared it with older footage of similar content.
“I was pleased to discover that they talk just as well now as they did 10 or 15 years ago,” he said.
Lastly, there is Holyfield, who at 47 years old has been viewed for probably 10 years as the poster boy for fighters over-staying their welcome. The outcry for the permanent revocation of his license is all but universal.
Here’s the problem: In December 2008, Holyfield lost a very controversial decision to Nicolay Valuev. In November 2009, Valuev lost what some saw as a controversial decision to David Haye.
It is logical, then, to say that Holyfield did about as well or almost as well against Valuev as did Haye. And if that is so, why is no one calling for Haye to retire? Where’s the outrage?
You can say Valuev has the mobility and boxing talent of a stone gargoyle, but that’s hardly Holyfield’s fault. THE RING and everyone else rated Valuev among the Top-10 heavyweights in the world.
As for sanctioning Holyfield-Botha -- which some have suggested was a desperate measure to bring some business into Las Vegas’ flagging economy -- it’s not as though Holyfield was facing Wladimir Klitschko or some other young stud. Let’s get real: It was Frans Botha.
“This was not a mismatch for either guy,” Kizer said. “Neither guy was coming in to fight the next big thing who was 20-0 with 19 knockouts and is 25 years old. This is not a situation where there was an unfair matchup.”
Kizer’s right. And though it’s never fun watching our heroes suffer a slow death, their once glowing expertise giving way to a kind of senile incompetence, it’s their right to hold on as long as they can, to fight it until their desire for battle is exhausted.
And it’s our obligation, within reason, to let them.
Some random observations from last week:/b>
The Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez fight was going pretty much the way many expected it would until Martinez opened up Pavlik’s right eye in the ninth and “The Ghost” more or less quit fighting. Bad for Pavlik, who’s a class act. Good for Martinez, who appears to be one too. …
On a related note, how many good smaller fighters have to beat good bigger fighters before people who should know better stop automatically picking the bigger guy? …
And when did Corey Hart start training Martinez?
Lucian Bute gets better all the time. He’s like Joe Calzaghe with a punch. …
Was anyone else disappointed by HBO’s “Real Sports” edition covering the deaths of Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest? It felt a little dumbed-down for HBO, and not just because Frank DeFord has the most ridiculous hair in the long history of sports writers with ridiculous hair. …
How bad do you have to be to make Tony Thompson look like George Foreman? About as bad as Owen “What the Heck” Beck, who would be a lot more fun if his name were Owen Buck. Or Tuck. Or Shuck. You get the idea. …
The two most memorable lines from the latest edition of Mayweather-Mosley 24/7, both from Mosley’s camp: “I don’t bark; I bite,” from Mosley; and from the always entertaining Nazim Richardson: “No one wants to be the 21st person at the buffet.”
Bill Dettloff, THE RING magazine’s Senior Writer, is the co-author, along with Joe Frazier, of “Box Like the Pros.” He is currently working on a biography of Ezzard Charles. Bill can be contacted at dettloff@ptd.net
Source: ringtv.com
It was hard to peruse any boxing coverage at all over the last couple weeks without happening on one diatribe or another about how we all should be ashamed of the back-to-back atrocities titled Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield-Frans Botha.
From the hysteria, you would have thought the Nevada State Athletic Commission had sanctioned matches pitting rabid wolverines against baskets of puppies. And that the promoters put it on pay-per-view, charged $49.99 and forced everyone to watch.
And in the days since, many otherwise reasonable journalists and fans have called for - nay, all but demanded -- that all the fighters involved retire posthaste, lest we be forced ever again to witness the awful degradation and indignities that accompany aging in professional athletes.
Well, not all of them. No one cares what Botha does -- not here in the United States, anyway. He’s South African, has always seemed rather a buffoon and the platinum goatee gives him a sinister look many of us find unsettling.
So let “The White Buffalo” fight well into his dementia years. Who cares?
But the others -- Hopkins, Jones, Holyfield -- should not only be forced into retirement, but banned from any activity that doesn’t involve complaining about Democrats and watching The Price is Right. So say the majority.
The majority have forgotten that a mere two fights ago, Hopkins, already well into his 40s, took apart then-26-year-old, undefeated Kelly Pavlik.
Conveniently dismissed too is the inconvenient reality that going into the Jones fight, Hopkins was ranked in the upper Top 10 of any credible pound-for-pound list.
He beat Jones by a wide margin and his reward has been a nearly universal call to drop him entirely from all pound-for-pound rankings (a call ignored, I’m proud to note, by THE RING editor Nigel Collins) and a suggestion by his own promoter to have a serious talk with family, which is code for “stop bothering us and retire already.”
Why? Because it was an abominably ugly fight?
Can any of you name more than one fight out of Hopkins’ last eight or nine that wasn’t ugly? Does being in an awful fight mean he’s too old to compete?
“There’s no question Bernard Hopkins is still competitive,” Greg Sirb, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission told RingTV.com. Hopkins outpointed Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia in December.
Sirb said his commission uses a four-pronged approach when it considers granting license to older fighters: Their medicals; their boxing record, particularly their most recent record; the matchup itself; and then the age of the fighter.
“If you put all those four together, a commission should be able to make a good decision,” he said. “Is he medically fit? Does his record show that he’s still competitive? Is the matchup worthy? It may not be a match between the two best guys in the world, but is the matchup, irrespective of anything else, competitive?”
With that criteria, it’s impossible to deny Hopkins a license or not sanction Hopkins-Jones, regardless of how old they are.
“You cannot make a sweeping statement, anybody over 35, anybody over 40, is not allowed to fight. That’s ridiculous,” Sirb said.
Jones’ knockout loss to Danny Green makes his a more-complicated case even though sometimes guys that are smack in the middle of their prime get hit on the sweet spot and go to sleep.
But consider this: Three out of Jones’ four losses over the last five years were to Antonio Tarver, Joe Calzaghe and now Hopkins -- an elite group. All were decision losses.
If he were a perennial contender, say a Rocky Juarez type rather than the game’s former pound-for-pound king, and in between those losses had beaten Jeff Lacy, Omar Sheika, Felix Trinidad and Anthony Hanshaw, would you still be on your soap box?
Clearly Jones isn’t what he used to be. Who is?
Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, in whose jurisdiction the subject fights took place, told RingTV.com that decline in a fighter’s skill level is not germane to the question of license renewal.
“That’s not relevant unless the reason for that is something we need to know about,” he said. “Let’s say a guy suffered a severe shoulder injury and never got back to where he needed to be and is still being bothered by that shoulder injury. Or it might be something neurologically that caused him to slow down. And you can see this guy is really messed up. That’s one thing.
“But to say a guy shouldn’t be re-licensed just because he’s not as good as he used to be? Then every fighter should lose his license after the best fight of his career.”
Kizer said that in Nevada, every fighter born in 1974 or before is subjected to a series of medical tests in addition to the tests all fighters receive. Then he reviews three criteria: how well the fighter has done in his career, how well he’s done lately, and how many times he’s been stopped.
For Hopkins and Jones, Kizer went the additional step of reviewing recent video that showed the fighters speaking and compared it with older footage of similar content.
“I was pleased to discover that they talk just as well now as they did 10 or 15 years ago,” he said.
Lastly, there is Holyfield, who at 47 years old has been viewed for probably 10 years as the poster boy for fighters over-staying their welcome. The outcry for the permanent revocation of his license is all but universal.
Here’s the problem: In December 2008, Holyfield lost a very controversial decision to Nicolay Valuev. In November 2009, Valuev lost what some saw as a controversial decision to David Haye.
It is logical, then, to say that Holyfield did about as well or almost as well against Valuev as did Haye. And if that is so, why is no one calling for Haye to retire? Where’s the outrage?
You can say Valuev has the mobility and boxing talent of a stone gargoyle, but that’s hardly Holyfield’s fault. THE RING and everyone else rated Valuev among the Top-10 heavyweights in the world.
As for sanctioning Holyfield-Botha -- which some have suggested was a desperate measure to bring some business into Las Vegas’ flagging economy -- it’s not as though Holyfield was facing Wladimir Klitschko or some other young stud. Let’s get real: It was Frans Botha.
“This was not a mismatch for either guy,” Kizer said. “Neither guy was coming in to fight the next big thing who was 20-0 with 19 knockouts and is 25 years old. This is not a situation where there was an unfair matchup.”
Kizer’s right. And though it’s never fun watching our heroes suffer a slow death, their once glowing expertise giving way to a kind of senile incompetence, it’s their right to hold on as long as they can, to fight it until their desire for battle is exhausted.
And it’s our obligation, within reason, to let them.
Some random observations from last week:/b>
The Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez fight was going pretty much the way many expected it would until Martinez opened up Pavlik’s right eye in the ninth and “The Ghost” more or less quit fighting. Bad for Pavlik, who’s a class act. Good for Martinez, who appears to be one too. …
On a related note, how many good smaller fighters have to beat good bigger fighters before people who should know better stop automatically picking the bigger guy? …
And when did Corey Hart start training Martinez?
Lucian Bute gets better all the time. He’s like Joe Calzaghe with a punch. …
Was anyone else disappointed by HBO’s “Real Sports” edition covering the deaths of Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest? It felt a little dumbed-down for HBO, and not just because Frank DeFord has the most ridiculous hair in the long history of sports writers with ridiculous hair. …
How bad do you have to be to make Tony Thompson look like George Foreman? About as bad as Owen “What the Heck” Beck, who would be a lot more fun if his name were Owen Buck. Or Tuck. Or Shuck. You get the idea. …
The two most memorable lines from the latest edition of Mayweather-Mosley 24/7, both from Mosley’s camp: “I don’t bark; I bite,” from Mosley; and from the always entertaining Nazim Richardson: “No one wants to be the 21st person at the buffet.”
Bill Dettloff, THE RING magazine’s Senior Writer, is the co-author, along with Joe Frazier, of “Box Like the Pros.” He is currently working on a biography of Ezzard Charles. Bill can be contacted at dettloff@ptd.net
Source: ringtv.com
Jumat, 16 April 2010
Heavyweight Excitement: No longer an Oxymoron? -- Ringside Report
By Jeff Stoyanoff, RingsideReport.com
When David Haye stopped John Ruiz on April 3rd in Manchester it was both expected and an upset. Most observers expected Haye to win the fight, but quite a few also figured that the experienced and cagey Ruiz would make it a most competitive fight. That Haye won was expected. That Haye dominated Ruiz and became the first man in over a decade to earn a stoppage against him? That can accurately be characterized as somewhat of an upset.
Naturally, with the spectacular nature of Haye’s win there will be the all too predictable suggestion that Ruiz was old and shot or perhaps simply overrated as a top fighter. Ruiz has never been blessed with fantastic gifts in the ring. He is not extraordinarily fast nor does he have tremendous power. Yet, Ruiz is an intelligent fighter, an excellent tactician, and he knows how to use those qualities in the ring. If there is a legacy to the career of John Ruiz it is that he was possessed of a special ability to be competitive in fights; a level of competitiveness that belied his natural gifts. For one of the rarest and most glaring times in a long and distinguished career, John Ruiz was overmatched in a fight and David Haye deserves all the credit in the world for that.
Yet, now the conversation will turn to David Haye and the brothers Klitschko. Haye has already made no bones about the fact that he can’t wait to get either (and eventually both) of them in the ring. And, for their part, the Klitschkos seem pretty keen on the idea as well. While it may be wrong to dismiss Haye’s win over Ruiz as merely what should have taken place, it would also be wrong to overlook the fact that either Klitschko is anything less than a giant step up for Haye. And speaking of giants…
Images of Valuev
We certainly got a glimpse of how dangerous it can be to follow David Haye around in the ring. In fact, we got that glimpse about fifteen seconds into the fight when John Ruiz was caught flat footed by a lightning fast right hand from Haye and was promptly deposited on the canvas. It was a shocking display of just how talented Haye can be. From that point on, Haye demonstrated repeated flashes of brilliance as he methodically, yet inexorably dismantled Ruiz over nine one sided rounds. Ruiz gamely continued to take the fight to Haye and was not without some offensive success, but ultimately the speed mismatch was too much to overcome. However, one must wonder if the same active and utterly destructive Haye that decimated Ruiz would be the one that shows up for either Klitschko. The genesis of this question lay not in the conjecture of a potential matchup, but in the certitude of history. Haye often looked befuddled in his fight with former WBA Champion, Nikolay Valuev.
In the first six rounds of the Haye-Valuev fight, Haye threw only 84 punches. The fact of the matter is, Haye was clearly unsure of how to proceed against the taller and longer Valuev. Both Klitschko brothers are far more in line with Valuev than Ruiz in terms of a matchup of styles. It is undoubtedly true that Haye won against Valuev and even staggered him badly in the twelfth and final round. On the other hand, it is also true that both Klitschkos are better fighters than Valuev and present a much greater challenge both offensively and defensively as potential opponents for Haye.
So, David Haye will probably be considered a rightful underdog when he eventually squares off with Wlad or Vitali. The ring records and fighting styles will dictate that. However, this is still a hugely exciting and intriguing potential matchup. There is something in this potential bout that differs greatly from the previous fights involving either Kltischko. David Haye is not just good, he is live; he has something. He has speed, he has power, and he has a big mouth…
The Talking Game
The Klitschko’s are avid chess players; and it shows. They are both cerebral tacticians in and out of the ring. In the ring, both are remarkably disciplined as they patiently set up their opponent before often brutally taking them out sometime in the mid to later stages of a fight. Quite often, the end comes quite awhile after the competitive aspects of the fight have long since been decided. In other words, they don’t feel any urgency to finish a guy as soon as they sense their advantage. Why rush in and run into a checkmate? Or, in boxing parlance, run into a huge shot that can turn a fight. Recently, nobody has been able to avoid their inevitable doom in a match with the Klitschko’s as both of them seem to come out set up their shots and eventually destroy their often beleaguered opponent; the disciplined attack wreaking havoc on overmatched fighters.
But, David Haye is going about things in a different way. Haye has already angered both Klitschkos. The talking seems to be a ploy designed to enrage them and throw them off their deliberate yet devastating game. In a recent interview, Freddie Roach said that the feud between Pacquiao and Mayweather wasn’t simply hype and that Pacquiao really does hate Mayweather. However, Roach quickly cautioned that he needed to steer Manny away from that because fighting angry would severely undermine his chances for success in that fight. Pacquiao being angry would be exactly what Mayweather would want as it would greatly increase the chances that Pacquiao would make mistakes in the ring.
David Haye would no doubt love for the Klitschkos to be angry and make those same mistakes. Haye is the smaller man. He needs the Klitschkos to take chances. He needs them to want to fight not simply box. Haye can’t afford for them to be too disciplined. For all his talent, Haye struggled at times to get going against Valuev and that doesn’t bode well when a Klitschko is throwing punches at you. But, if that discipline slips; if the opponent reaches just a little; leans in and fights a little less tall; opens himself up too early, perhaps the explosive talent of Haye can produce the seismic upset.
The Valero Effect
Much is made of the loss David Haye suffered to Carl Thompson. While it is true that Haye was in fact knocked out in the fight, the loss nevertheless occurred nearly six years ago. Haye is a different fighter now; a decidedly better fighter. Similarly, much is made of perceived defensive lapses by Haye, specifically a tendency to have his hands down even while in the punching range of his opponents. Admittedly, the lack of discipline can get him in some trouble. Haye has been down in two of his last five fights. However, fighters are certainly aware of who they are fighting in the ring on a given night.
A rudimentary search on youtube will yield several rounds against different opponents in the career of Edwin Valero. In the video, Valero is often wild on his punches, his hands are often down, he is regularly squared up to his opponent, and he is routinely off balance. In short, based on those rounds, Valero’s vaunted record to that point looked like a strong case of padding; a case of a talented, but thoroughly undisciplined fighter feasting on inferior opposition. Then, Valero took on Antonio Demarco. Demarco, another rising star, presented a more formidable challenge. Somewhat surprisingly, Valero fought extraordinarily well demonstrating an as yet unseen level of fundamental discipline as he systematically took apart a solid young fighter in Demarco. Valero undoubtedly knew of Demarco’s acumen in the ring and he had an innate understanding of what he could not afford to do in the ring that night. Valero had it in him all along. He just brought it out when he needed it. Despite Haye’s bluster, it seems inconceivable that he would not recognize the abilities of the Klitschkos. Haye will be sharp; he can’t afford not to be. Unfortunately for either brother, they will almost certainly be getting the best version of David Haye they could possibly meet.
Beyond the Wins and Losses
In the end, it really doesn’t matter what happens in a fight between one of the Klitschkos and Haye. The result is secondary because the significance of this fight lay not in the result so much as in the perception of the fans. People are going to wonder just how Haye might fare. They will wonder if the movement will be problematic. There will be a curiosity about how the brothers will deal with the speed and power. And, curiosity will abound about just how much damage Haye can do with his awkward, darting style.
Much has been made of the lack of talent in the heavyweight division. Last year, most of the writers on this site for instance couldn’t even nominate a heavyweight fight of the year. Are the Klitschko’s overrated because they fight in such a weak division? Or, is it that the Klitschko’s are underrated in an all time sense as they have the misfortune of dominating what is only apparently a weak division? Those are hard questions to answer definitively, but, beyond the questions of talent and the dearth of quality fights, what is missing most of all in the heavyweight division in recent years, is wonder.
Haye’s scintillating performance may not prove to be the opening salvo in an ascent that will eventually take him passed the Kltischko’s and to the top of the division, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. The most exciting thing about Haye’s performance is that any boxing fan has to be just a little bit curious. Chris Arreola, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev, Kevin Johnson, Ray Austin, Tony Thompson, Sam Peter, and really every Klitschko opponent in the past several years, they all have had a similar feel. They have all been good, solid fighters who earned their chance and deserve our respect. But, none of them made us wonder. The reality is, one way or another they were simply not capable of beating the Klitschko’s and we all knew it. But, Haye is a little bit different. Maybe it’s the speed, or maybe it’s just the brash talking, but the energy he brings is different. There remains ample reason to think he may be in over his head when he steps in against either Wlad or Vitali. But, with the speed and the style and the ego, he does bring one more thing that none of the others could, excitement. One can’t help but wonder and it’s been awhile since we could say that.
Source: ringsidereport.com
When David Haye stopped John Ruiz on April 3rd in Manchester it was both expected and an upset. Most observers expected Haye to win the fight, but quite a few also figured that the experienced and cagey Ruiz would make it a most competitive fight. That Haye won was expected. That Haye dominated Ruiz and became the first man in over a decade to earn a stoppage against him? That can accurately be characterized as somewhat of an upset.
Naturally, with the spectacular nature of Haye’s win there will be the all too predictable suggestion that Ruiz was old and shot or perhaps simply overrated as a top fighter. Ruiz has never been blessed with fantastic gifts in the ring. He is not extraordinarily fast nor does he have tremendous power. Yet, Ruiz is an intelligent fighter, an excellent tactician, and he knows how to use those qualities in the ring. If there is a legacy to the career of John Ruiz it is that he was possessed of a special ability to be competitive in fights; a level of competitiveness that belied his natural gifts. For one of the rarest and most glaring times in a long and distinguished career, John Ruiz was overmatched in a fight and David Haye deserves all the credit in the world for that.
Yet, now the conversation will turn to David Haye and the brothers Klitschko. Haye has already made no bones about the fact that he can’t wait to get either (and eventually both) of them in the ring. And, for their part, the Klitschkos seem pretty keen on the idea as well. While it may be wrong to dismiss Haye’s win over Ruiz as merely what should have taken place, it would also be wrong to overlook the fact that either Klitschko is anything less than a giant step up for Haye. And speaking of giants…Images of Valuev
We certainly got a glimpse of how dangerous it can be to follow David Haye around in the ring. In fact, we got that glimpse about fifteen seconds into the fight when John Ruiz was caught flat footed by a lightning fast right hand from Haye and was promptly deposited on the canvas. It was a shocking display of just how talented Haye can be. From that point on, Haye demonstrated repeated flashes of brilliance as he methodically, yet inexorably dismantled Ruiz over nine one sided rounds. Ruiz gamely continued to take the fight to Haye and was not without some offensive success, but ultimately the speed mismatch was too much to overcome. However, one must wonder if the same active and utterly destructive Haye that decimated Ruiz would be the one that shows up for either Klitschko. The genesis of this question lay not in the conjecture of a potential matchup, but in the certitude of history. Haye often looked befuddled in his fight with former WBA Champion, Nikolay Valuev.
In the first six rounds of the Haye-Valuev fight, Haye threw only 84 punches. The fact of the matter is, Haye was clearly unsure of how to proceed against the taller and longer Valuev. Both Klitschko brothers are far more in line with Valuev than Ruiz in terms of a matchup of styles. It is undoubtedly true that Haye won against Valuev and even staggered him badly in the twelfth and final round. On the other hand, it is also true that both Klitschkos are better fighters than Valuev and present a much greater challenge both offensively and defensively as potential opponents for Haye.
So, David Haye will probably be considered a rightful underdog when he eventually squares off with Wlad or Vitali. The ring records and fighting styles will dictate that. However, this is still a hugely exciting and intriguing potential matchup. There is something in this potential bout that differs greatly from the previous fights involving either Kltischko. David Haye is not just good, he is live; he has something. He has speed, he has power, and he has a big mouth…
The Talking Game
The Klitschko’s are avid chess players; and it shows. They are both cerebral tacticians in and out of the ring. In the ring, both are remarkably disciplined as they patiently set up their opponent before often brutally taking them out sometime in the mid to later stages of a fight. Quite often, the end comes quite awhile after the competitive aspects of the fight have long since been decided. In other words, they don’t feel any urgency to finish a guy as soon as they sense their advantage. Why rush in and run into a checkmate? Or, in boxing parlance, run into a huge shot that can turn a fight. Recently, nobody has been able to avoid their inevitable doom in a match with the Klitschko’s as both of them seem to come out set up their shots and eventually destroy their often beleaguered opponent; the disciplined attack wreaking havoc on overmatched fighters.
But, David Haye is going about things in a different way. Haye has already angered both Klitschkos. The talking seems to be a ploy designed to enrage them and throw them off their deliberate yet devastating game. In a recent interview, Freddie Roach said that the feud between Pacquiao and Mayweather wasn’t simply hype and that Pacquiao really does hate Mayweather. However, Roach quickly cautioned that he needed to steer Manny away from that because fighting angry would severely undermine his chances for success in that fight. Pacquiao being angry would be exactly what Mayweather would want as it would greatly increase the chances that Pacquiao would make mistakes in the ring.
David Haye would no doubt love for the Klitschkos to be angry and make those same mistakes. Haye is the smaller man. He needs the Klitschkos to take chances. He needs them to want to fight not simply box. Haye can’t afford for them to be too disciplined. For all his talent, Haye struggled at times to get going against Valuev and that doesn’t bode well when a Klitschko is throwing punches at you. But, if that discipline slips; if the opponent reaches just a little; leans in and fights a little less tall; opens himself up too early, perhaps the explosive talent of Haye can produce the seismic upset.
The Valero Effect
Much is made of the loss David Haye suffered to Carl Thompson. While it is true that Haye was in fact knocked out in the fight, the loss nevertheless occurred nearly six years ago. Haye is a different fighter now; a decidedly better fighter. Similarly, much is made of perceived defensive lapses by Haye, specifically a tendency to have his hands down even while in the punching range of his opponents. Admittedly, the lack of discipline can get him in some trouble. Haye has been down in two of his last five fights. However, fighters are certainly aware of who they are fighting in the ring on a given night.
A rudimentary search on youtube will yield several rounds against different opponents in the career of Edwin Valero. In the video, Valero is often wild on his punches, his hands are often down, he is regularly squared up to his opponent, and he is routinely off balance. In short, based on those rounds, Valero’s vaunted record to that point looked like a strong case of padding; a case of a talented, but thoroughly undisciplined fighter feasting on inferior opposition. Then, Valero took on Antonio Demarco. Demarco, another rising star, presented a more formidable challenge. Somewhat surprisingly, Valero fought extraordinarily well demonstrating an as yet unseen level of fundamental discipline as he systematically took apart a solid young fighter in Demarco. Valero undoubtedly knew of Demarco’s acumen in the ring and he had an innate understanding of what he could not afford to do in the ring that night. Valero had it in him all along. He just brought it out when he needed it. Despite Haye’s bluster, it seems inconceivable that he would not recognize the abilities of the Klitschkos. Haye will be sharp; he can’t afford not to be. Unfortunately for either brother, they will almost certainly be getting the best version of David Haye they could possibly meet.
Beyond the Wins and Losses
In the end, it really doesn’t matter what happens in a fight between one of the Klitschkos and Haye. The result is secondary because the significance of this fight lay not in the result so much as in the perception of the fans. People are going to wonder just how Haye might fare. They will wonder if the movement will be problematic. There will be a curiosity about how the brothers will deal with the speed and power. And, curiosity will abound about just how much damage Haye can do with his awkward, darting style.
Much has been made of the lack of talent in the heavyweight division. Last year, most of the writers on this site for instance couldn’t even nominate a heavyweight fight of the year. Are the Klitschko’s overrated because they fight in such a weak division? Or, is it that the Klitschko’s are underrated in an all time sense as they have the misfortune of dominating what is only apparently a weak division? Those are hard questions to answer definitively, but, beyond the questions of talent and the dearth of quality fights, what is missing most of all in the heavyweight division in recent years, is wonder.
Haye’s scintillating performance may not prove to be the opening salvo in an ascent that will eventually take him passed the Kltischko’s and to the top of the division, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. The most exciting thing about Haye’s performance is that any boxing fan has to be just a little bit curious. Chris Arreola, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev, Kevin Johnson, Ray Austin, Tony Thompson, Sam Peter, and really every Klitschko opponent in the past several years, they all have had a similar feel. They have all been good, solid fighters who earned their chance and deserve our respect. But, none of them made us wonder. The reality is, one way or another they were simply not capable of beating the Klitschko’s and we all knew it. But, Haye is a little bit different. Maybe it’s the speed, or maybe it’s just the brash talking, but the energy he brings is different. There remains ample reason to think he may be in over his head when he steps in against either Wlad or Vitali. But, with the speed and the style and the ego, he does bring one more thing that none of the others could, excitement. One can’t help but wonder and it’s been awhile since we could say that.
Source: ringsidereport.com
Rabu, 14 April 2010
'I'm old school, Haye would be a simple fight,' says Holyfield -- The Independent
Independent.co.uk
It was the most disturbing and remarkable win in a career that has never been short of "did that just happen?" moments. On Saturday night, at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Evander Holyfield recorded his 43rd win as a professional boxer to claim the WBF heavyweight title. And so the man who famously fought with Mike Tyson twice (his opponent taking a bite out of his ear in the second bout), and Lennox Lewis another two times, became a world champion at 47 years of age.
Holyfield refuses to throw in the towel and take up a position behind a microphone. It was a simple victory, over fellow veteran South Africa's Frans Botha, himself 41, fighting on "the retirement circuit". But there is no safe retreat in the brutal business of boxing for old men – no veterans' "friendlies". Instead, the latest turn in the story of Holyfield, who first won the world heavyweight title in 1990, has confirmed his place at the top of a tragic and often tainted heap of recent American heavyweights.
"I'm back, back in the heavyweight business and ready to fight any of the champions," said Holyfield, whose visits to hospital in victory and defeat have become legend. "I look at the champions and I know ways to beat them. I'm from the old school and they are not. David Haye would be a simple fight for me." It is possible, incredibly, that the two may yet fight.
Holyfield is the only active boxer to have fought the old 15-round distance, which he had to do in his first world title fight back in 1986. For the record he was just 23 and having his 12th fight when he won a split a decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the World Boxing Association cruiserweight title. It was a brutal fight and both boxers ended up in hospital needing time to recover from the savagery.
At present it is possible to argue with some force that there are just three Americans in the top 20 heavyweights and the trio are not much to write home about. There is Tony "Tiger" Thompson, Chris Arreola and "Fast" Eddie Chambers and they have all been knocked out by one of the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali. Thompson lost every round against Vitali before jumping on the floor in the 11th round in 2008, Chambers never threw a punch at Wladimir and collapsed in the 12th a few months ago, and Arreola survived 10 against Vitali but never won a round last year.
Yet the truth is that Holyfield is more marketable at his age because there is no talent coming through in America. But even now, in the American media following the fight at the weekend, there are growing calls for him to stop. "Holyfield once was a true warrior and champion," said Colin Linneweber of the website Bleacher Report. "Now, 'The Real Deal' is everything that is wrong with boxing and he is making a mockery out of his legacy." The Las Vegas Review-Journal called Saturday's fight "a geriatric wrestling match".
Holyfield has never really been far from the top during the last 20 years and in late 2008 he travelled to Switzerland to fight Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title. He came close, dropping a majority decision; less than 12 months later Haye beat Valuev by split decision to win the title. Holyfield, in many ways, showed Haye how to beat the Russian giant. The Briton admitted as much after his safety-first victory.
Holyfield has been involved in a world heavyweight fight in 14 of the last 20 years and some of his 19 title fights are recognised as the best of all generations of heavyweights. His trio with Riddick Bowe in the early 1990s, which included the night in Las Vegas when the "Fan Man" parachuted into the ring and was knocked unconscious by Bowe's henchmen, is the best triple in history. The final Bowe fight was particularly brutal, with both on the floor before Bowe won in round five. A few years later Bowe was made to retire because of brain damage he was meant to have suffered. After the Bowe hat-trick Holyfield was winning and losing world titles in epic scraps with Tyson and Lewis when Bowe had long since retired.
"I knew that I could beat Tyson," Holyfield said again and again. "Lennox was much harder." Holyfield and Tyson had come close to blows during an amateur training camp before the 1984 Olympics when it is claimed that Holyfield got in Tyson's face and forced the bully to back down. In the ring 12 years later Holyfield did the same thing and broke Tyson's heart in the first fight. In the rematch, known forever now as "The Bite of the Century", Holyfield took more than Tyson's heart, he took his dignity and forced him to foul his way to permanent ignominy. Holyfield was back in hospital, $30m (£19.5m) richer and part of his severed ear was stuffed in ice. I saw the pair embrace a few years ago and remember catching Tyson eyeing the gap in Holyfield's ear. Tyson insists that Holyfield was the best man he ever fought. Holyfield, a sometime Christian preacher, refuses to accuse.
The two Lewis fights were simple toe-to-toe encounters and both results divided the fans. The first was a draw in Madison Square Garden and when we sat for the return eight months later in Las Vegas I was reminded of just how big a world heavyweight championship fight could and should be. America was watching, Vegas stopped and the two walked to the centre of the ring. It was 1999 and the old magic was back; it was a fight for the history boys and it was also the last really great heavyweight title fight to take place involving an American in America.
Holyfield is still flying that damaged American flag and there is nobody on the American boxing horizon to take it from his clenched fists.
Too many champions: Heavyweight headache
Wladimir Klitschko The world No 1 is WBO, IBF, IBO and The Ring magazine champion.
David Haye The British WBA champion has covincingly won all four of his heavyweight bouts.
Vitali Klitschko The 6ft 7in Ukrainian has held the WBC belt since 2004.
Evander Holyfield At the age of 47 the "Real Deal" became the oldest boxer to win a heavyweight title in history on Saturday when he won the lightly-regarded WBF belt.
Sheldon Hinton The Canadian, holder of the minor WBB strap is currently ranked 204th in the world.
Hector Ferreyro Won the IBC title in March, beating Arron Lyons.
It was the most disturbing and remarkable win in a career that has never been short of "did that just happen?" moments. On Saturday night, at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Evander Holyfield recorded his 43rd win as a professional boxer to claim the WBF heavyweight title. And so the man who famously fought with Mike Tyson twice (his opponent taking a bite out of his ear in the second bout), and Lennox Lewis another two times, became a world champion at 47 years of age.
Holyfield refuses to throw in the towel and take up a position behind a microphone. It was a simple victory, over fellow veteran South Africa's Frans Botha, himself 41, fighting on "the retirement circuit". But there is no safe retreat in the brutal business of boxing for old men – no veterans' "friendlies". Instead, the latest turn in the story of Holyfield, who first won the world heavyweight title in 1990, has confirmed his place at the top of a tragic and often tainted heap of recent American heavyweights.
"I'm back, back in the heavyweight business and ready to fight any of the champions," said Holyfield, whose visits to hospital in victory and defeat have become legend. "I look at the champions and I know ways to beat them. I'm from the old school and they are not. David Haye would be a simple fight for me." It is possible, incredibly, that the two may yet fight.
Holyfield is the only active boxer to have fought the old 15-round distance, which he had to do in his first world title fight back in 1986. For the record he was just 23 and having his 12th fight when he won a split a decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the World Boxing Association cruiserweight title. It was a brutal fight and both boxers ended up in hospital needing time to recover from the savagery.
At present it is possible to argue with some force that there are just three Americans in the top 20 heavyweights and the trio are not much to write home about. There is Tony "Tiger" Thompson, Chris Arreola and "Fast" Eddie Chambers and they have all been knocked out by one of the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali. Thompson lost every round against Vitali before jumping on the floor in the 11th round in 2008, Chambers never threw a punch at Wladimir and collapsed in the 12th a few months ago, and Arreola survived 10 against Vitali but never won a round last year.
Yet the truth is that Holyfield is more marketable at his age because there is no talent coming through in America. But even now, in the American media following the fight at the weekend, there are growing calls for him to stop. "Holyfield once was a true warrior and champion," said Colin Linneweber of the website Bleacher Report. "Now, 'The Real Deal' is everything that is wrong with boxing and he is making a mockery out of his legacy." The Las Vegas Review-Journal called Saturday's fight "a geriatric wrestling match".
Holyfield has never really been far from the top during the last 20 years and in late 2008 he travelled to Switzerland to fight Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title. He came close, dropping a majority decision; less than 12 months later Haye beat Valuev by split decision to win the title. Holyfield, in many ways, showed Haye how to beat the Russian giant. The Briton admitted as much after his safety-first victory.
Holyfield has been involved in a world heavyweight fight in 14 of the last 20 years and some of his 19 title fights are recognised as the best of all generations of heavyweights. His trio with Riddick Bowe in the early 1990s, which included the night in Las Vegas when the "Fan Man" parachuted into the ring and was knocked unconscious by Bowe's henchmen, is the best triple in history. The final Bowe fight was particularly brutal, with both on the floor before Bowe won in round five. A few years later Bowe was made to retire because of brain damage he was meant to have suffered. After the Bowe hat-trick Holyfield was winning and losing world titles in epic scraps with Tyson and Lewis when Bowe had long since retired.
"I knew that I could beat Tyson," Holyfield said again and again. "Lennox was much harder." Holyfield and Tyson had come close to blows during an amateur training camp before the 1984 Olympics when it is claimed that Holyfield got in Tyson's face and forced the bully to back down. In the ring 12 years later Holyfield did the same thing and broke Tyson's heart in the first fight. In the rematch, known forever now as "The Bite of the Century", Holyfield took more than Tyson's heart, he took his dignity and forced him to foul his way to permanent ignominy. Holyfield was back in hospital, $30m (£19.5m) richer and part of his severed ear was stuffed in ice. I saw the pair embrace a few years ago and remember catching Tyson eyeing the gap in Holyfield's ear. Tyson insists that Holyfield was the best man he ever fought. Holyfield, a sometime Christian preacher, refuses to accuse.
The two Lewis fights were simple toe-to-toe encounters and both results divided the fans. The first was a draw in Madison Square Garden and when we sat for the return eight months later in Las Vegas I was reminded of just how big a world heavyweight championship fight could and should be. America was watching, Vegas stopped and the two walked to the centre of the ring. It was 1999 and the old magic was back; it was a fight for the history boys and it was also the last really great heavyweight title fight to take place involving an American in America.
Holyfield is still flying that damaged American flag and there is nobody on the American boxing horizon to take it from his clenched fists.
Too many champions: Heavyweight headache
Wladimir Klitschko The world No 1 is WBO, IBF, IBO and The Ring magazine champion.
David Haye The British WBA champion has covincingly won all four of his heavyweight bouts.
Vitali Klitschko The 6ft 7in Ukrainian has held the WBC belt since 2004.
Evander Holyfield At the age of 47 the "Real Deal" became the oldest boxer to win a heavyweight title in history on Saturday when he won the lightly-regarded WBF belt.
Sheldon Hinton The Canadian, holder of the minor WBB strap is currently ranked 204th in the world.
Hector Ferreyro Won the IBC title in March, beating Arron Lyons.
Sabtu, 10 April 2010
47-year-old Holyfield scores 8th-round TKO of 41-year-old Botha -- Los Angeles Times
By Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Evander Holyfield
stopped Frans Botha in the eighth round to win the WBF heavyweight title Saturday night.
The 47-year-old Holyfield (43-10-2) knocked the 41-year old Botha (47-5-3) down with 2:36 left in the round with a right to the left chin.
Botha beat referee Russell Mora's count, but with 2:05 left Mora stopped the fight with Botha backed into a corner. It was Holyfield's 28th career knockout.
Two judges had Botha ahead 67-66 when the fight was stopped. The other judge had it 69-64 for Holyfield, the former heavyweight champion.
There were only about 2,200 people in the stands at the Thomas & Mack Center, most rooting for Holyfield.
Holyfield briefly lost his balance, stumbling into a corner after a right from Botha with 2:04 left in the second round. After that, Holyfield started taking control.
Botha, a native South African, was warned by the referee twice in the first three rounds for hitting behind the head. Botha also was warned in the first round for a double hit to the head during a clinch.
This was Holyfield's first fight in Las Vegas since 2003, when he lost to James Tooney at Mandalay Bay.
Before Saturday Holyfield was only 10-6 in Las Vegas, including the infamous ear-biting incident against Mike Tyson in 1997, when he won by disqualification.
Source: latimes.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Evander Holyfield stopped Frans Botha in the eighth round to win the WBF heavyweight title Saturday night.The 47-year-old Holyfield (43-10-2) knocked the 41-year old Botha (47-5-3) down with 2:36 left in the round with a right to the left chin.
Botha beat referee Russell Mora's count, but with 2:05 left Mora stopped the fight with Botha backed into a corner. It was Holyfield's 28th career knockout.
Two judges had Botha ahead 67-66 when the fight was stopped. The other judge had it 69-64 for Holyfield, the former heavyweight champion.
There were only about 2,200 people in the stands at the Thomas & Mack Center, most rooting for Holyfield.
Holyfield briefly lost his balance, stumbling into a corner after a right from Botha with 2:04 left in the second round. After that, Holyfield started taking control.
Botha, a native South African, was warned by the referee twice in the first three rounds for hitting behind the head. Botha also was warned in the first round for a double hit to the head during a clinch.
This was Holyfield's first fight in Las Vegas since 2003, when he lost to James Tooney at Mandalay Bay.
Before Saturday Holyfield was only 10-6 in Las Vegas, including the infamous ear-biting incident against Mike Tyson in 1997, when he won by disqualification.
Source: latimes.com
Holyfield Stops Botha -- 411mania
By Ryan Bates, 411mania.com
Not a headline from 1993... Holyfield
defeated Botha in Las Vegas Saturday night. Namauu, Santamauro also victorious.
Despite all the grief and bellyaching we all gave the match-up, the heavyweight bout between Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield and Francois "The White Buffalo" Botha wasn't really half bad after all.
Botha started early trying to land his power shots, but Holyfield demonstrated early why he was a 4-time world champion and a better boxer in his prime. Botha landed early to Holyfield's abs, and tried some dirty moves, like an Emanuel Augustus-like box-your-ears move, which cited warnings from referee Russell Mora.
Evident early was that Holyfield, despite reaching retirement age, is still in prime shape, while Botha looked like he belonged in a Toughman contest. Botha tired early, staying up against the ropes. His entire game plan seemed to be 1-2-clinch, a la John Ruiz. This actually worked in round five, where Botha was able to capitalize on top of those clinches to break away and land decent, meaningful shots. But for the majority of the fight, Evander's punch output managed to sway the 1-2-clinch program, and in round six he threw a straight right that simply floored Botha. Botha made the count, but he was clearly on Odd Way Out, and after a battering in the corner, Russell Mora stopped the fight in the seventh round.
Post-fight, Al Bernstein left the door open for a retirement for Botha, asking him what was next. The punchy Botha simply said he was going to talk to his team about what was next. He also asked Holyfield how to rate his performance, to which Holyfield gave himself a 7.
Holyfield is now the WBF (what?) heavyweight champion, and goes up to 43-10-2 (28 KO). Frans Botha goes down to 47-5-3 (28 KO).
Fight of the night goes to the ten-round cruiserweight bout between UNLV's own Henry Namauu and Rayford Johnson. Namauu and Johnson at times were ready to throw defense to the wind and stand and brawl all night. Johnson started the fight well into it. He came with power, and he came with some accuracy. Johnson's downfall came due to the fact that he fought a minute at a time, and a boxing round is three minutes. Namauu's stamina came into play as by the third and fourth round Johnson would fight the first minute and try to get by on that in the second and third. Namauu wasn't having that. The 2006 Cruiserweight Collegiate Champion put his thunderous power behind every punch, making sure he was giving as much as he was (occasionally) taking.
By round seven, the tide had turned, and it was now the Henry Namauu show. Johnson was still winging punches, but not connecting with any accuracy. Namauu would wind up his punches and connect. Johnson landed an intense flurry which connected with Namauu, and from that point Namauu saw red, barraging Johnson with head attacks that made Johnson's head look like it was going to snap right off. Tony Weeks mercifully jumped in and stopped the fight, but Namauu was incensed and looked like he could go ten more. Namauu, who started as a hard-luck fighter, now improves to 6-3 (4 KO) and shows no sign of slowing down. The too-game-for-his-own-good Johnson falls to 5-5.
On the undercard, in a story of "too little, too late," Valente Tinajero suffered a loss at the hands of former IBF champion, the veteran "King" Arthur Williams. Williams used his jab and reach to effectively keep Tinajero at bay for most of the fight. He moved him into the corner, but then couldn't do any real effective damage. Tinajero was looking for the big bomb all night, but couldn't find it, save for a left hook in round 5 that wobbled Williams. Both men were tired, but Tinajero had conserved more energy and used it to come on strong in rounds 5 and 6, but it wasn't enough. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 for Williams, moving him up to 47-16-1 (30 KO). 411Mania had the bout 58-56 for Williams, with Tinajero taking his first loss at 8-1 (4 KO).
On the first pay-per-view bout, local Rocco Santamauro won a shut-out decision against Karl Hammer. Hammer, for what it's worth, did his best but he was winded by round two, and allowed Santamauro to tee off on him, and tee off he did. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish someone whose knockout was there for the taking, so his team will have to evaluate whether this was a worthy win. The judges and 411mania were in agreement, 40-36 across the board.
In the night's women's bout, Jennifer Han picked up her first professional win as she out-fired Crystal Hoy in a four-round super featherweight bout. Hoy was able to slip the punches early, but Han was the more aggressive, harder puncher throughout the four rounds, and if round one had been a full three-minute round, Hoy may have gone down. 411Mania agreed with the scorecards of the judges, 40-36 for Han. She climbs to 1-1-1; Hoy picks up the loss and falls to 3-2-2 (2 KO).
It's a bad sign when your opponent comes in wearing boxing trunks and shoes, and you've been sent in with basketball shorts and sneakers. This is how the scene looked when Alexis Santiago took on Brice Yeniki in the opening bout. Yeniki, winless in four fights, was again clearly outmatched, took a lot of punishment, and didn't win a single round on 411's card or the judges' cards. It's hard to tell what Santiago has to offer against such a poor opponent. Santiago is now 3-0-1 (1 KO); Yeniki falls to 0-5 and really should rethink his career.
The swing bout came right after the Namauu/Johnson slobberknocker, and brought the energy of the arena way down. Again, if the guy comes to the fight in proper gear, and you show up in basketball shorts, it's not a good sign. Juan Alcolea showed up in basketball shorts. The action was few and far between but Lawrence Hughes' not-much was more accurate than Alcolea's not-much. The judges' scorecards all found in favor of Johnson, 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37. 411mania Boxing ruled the fight 40-36 for Johnson.
Source: 411mania.com
Not a headline from 1993... Holyfield defeated Botha in Las Vegas Saturday night. Namauu, Santamauro also victorious. Despite all the grief and bellyaching we all gave the match-up, the heavyweight bout between Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield and Francois "The White Buffalo" Botha wasn't really half bad after all.
Botha started early trying to land his power shots, but Holyfield demonstrated early why he was a 4-time world champion and a better boxer in his prime. Botha landed early to Holyfield's abs, and tried some dirty moves, like an Emanuel Augustus-like box-your-ears move, which cited warnings from referee Russell Mora.
Evident early was that Holyfield, despite reaching retirement age, is still in prime shape, while Botha looked like he belonged in a Toughman contest. Botha tired early, staying up against the ropes. His entire game plan seemed to be 1-2-clinch, a la John Ruiz. This actually worked in round five, where Botha was able to capitalize on top of those clinches to break away and land decent, meaningful shots. But for the majority of the fight, Evander's punch output managed to sway the 1-2-clinch program, and in round six he threw a straight right that simply floored Botha. Botha made the count, but he was clearly on Odd Way Out, and after a battering in the corner, Russell Mora stopped the fight in the seventh round.
Post-fight, Al Bernstein left the door open for a retirement for Botha, asking him what was next. The punchy Botha simply said he was going to talk to his team about what was next. He also asked Holyfield how to rate his performance, to which Holyfield gave himself a 7.
Holyfield is now the WBF (what?) heavyweight champion, and goes up to 43-10-2 (28 KO). Frans Botha goes down to 47-5-3 (28 KO).
Fight of the night goes to the ten-round cruiserweight bout between UNLV's own Henry Namauu and Rayford Johnson. Namauu and Johnson at times were ready to throw defense to the wind and stand and brawl all night. Johnson started the fight well into it. He came with power, and he came with some accuracy. Johnson's downfall came due to the fact that he fought a minute at a time, and a boxing round is three minutes. Namauu's stamina came into play as by the third and fourth round Johnson would fight the first minute and try to get by on that in the second and third. Namauu wasn't having that. The 2006 Cruiserweight Collegiate Champion put his thunderous power behind every punch, making sure he was giving as much as he was (occasionally) taking.
By round seven, the tide had turned, and it was now the Henry Namauu show. Johnson was still winging punches, but not connecting with any accuracy. Namauu would wind up his punches and connect. Johnson landed an intense flurry which connected with Namauu, and from that point Namauu saw red, barraging Johnson with head attacks that made Johnson's head look like it was going to snap right off. Tony Weeks mercifully jumped in and stopped the fight, but Namauu was incensed and looked like he could go ten more. Namauu, who started as a hard-luck fighter, now improves to 6-3 (4 KO) and shows no sign of slowing down. The too-game-for-his-own-good Johnson falls to 5-5.
On the undercard, in a story of "too little, too late," Valente Tinajero suffered a loss at the hands of former IBF champion, the veteran "King" Arthur Williams. Williams used his jab and reach to effectively keep Tinajero at bay for most of the fight. He moved him into the corner, but then couldn't do any real effective damage. Tinajero was looking for the big bomb all night, but couldn't find it, save for a left hook in round 5 that wobbled Williams. Both men were tired, but Tinajero had conserved more energy and used it to come on strong in rounds 5 and 6, but it wasn't enough. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 for Williams, moving him up to 47-16-1 (30 KO). 411Mania had the bout 58-56 for Williams, with Tinajero taking his first loss at 8-1 (4 KO).
On the first pay-per-view bout, local Rocco Santamauro won a shut-out decision against Karl Hammer. Hammer, for what it's worth, did his best but he was winded by round two, and allowed Santamauro to tee off on him, and tee off he did. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish someone whose knockout was there for the taking, so his team will have to evaluate whether this was a worthy win. The judges and 411mania were in agreement, 40-36 across the board.
In the night's women's bout, Jennifer Han picked up her first professional win as she out-fired Crystal Hoy in a four-round super featherweight bout. Hoy was able to slip the punches early, but Han was the more aggressive, harder puncher throughout the four rounds, and if round one had been a full three-minute round, Hoy may have gone down. 411Mania agreed with the scorecards of the judges, 40-36 for Han. She climbs to 1-1-1; Hoy picks up the loss and falls to 3-2-2 (2 KO).
It's a bad sign when your opponent comes in wearing boxing trunks and shoes, and you've been sent in with basketball shorts and sneakers. This is how the scene looked when Alexis Santiago took on Brice Yeniki in the opening bout. Yeniki, winless in four fights, was again clearly outmatched, took a lot of punishment, and didn't win a single round on 411's card or the judges' cards. It's hard to tell what Santiago has to offer against such a poor opponent. Santiago is now 3-0-1 (1 KO); Yeniki falls to 0-5 and really should rethink his career.
The swing bout came right after the Namauu/Johnson slobberknocker, and brought the energy of the arena way down. Again, if the guy comes to the fight in proper gear, and you show up in basketball shorts, it's not a good sign. Juan Alcolea showed up in basketball shorts. The action was few and far between but Lawrence Hughes' not-much was more accurate than Alcolea's not-much. The judges' scorecards all found in favor of Johnson, 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37. 411mania Boxing ruled the fight 40-36 for Johnson.
Source: 411mania.com
Holyfield fights Botha, doubters in ring tonight -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By STEVE CARP, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Evander Holyfield refuses to go away.
The former four-time heavyweight champion insists he still has the skills to regain the world title, though he's 47, last held a belt nearly 10 years ago and has lost two fights in a row.
"I've been hearing for a while that I can't do it," he said. "All it does is light a fire under me to prove people wrong.
"I can still fight. I don't want to leave until I've become the undisputed heavyweight champion one more time. That's been my goal the entire time."
If Holyfield can't beat 41-year-old Frans Botha tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center, he might as well leave the ring for good. But Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts) said this fight is a step toward meeting the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, who own three of the four titles.
"After I whup up on Botha, I want the Klitschkos," said Holyfield, who last won a heavyweight title Aug. 12, 2000, when he beat John Ruiz at Paris Las Vegas for the vacant WBA belt.
If Holyfield wins -- he's a 3½-1 favorite -- he'll do so largely in anonymity. By Friday afternoon, only 2,000 tickets had been sold, leaving promoter Crown Boxing, which is paying Holyfield $150,000 plus a pay-per-view percentage, to hope for a large walk-up crowd. Even $25 lower-bowl seats are going unsold.
Holyfield-Botha is also going head to head against a Top Rank card at the Hard Rock Hotel that has tickets priced as low as $20. There's also the Andre Berto-Carlos Quintana welterweight fight on HBO. And if that wasn't enough competition, there's UFC 112, a mixed martial arts card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, available on pay per view.
Holyfield hasn't fought in Las Vegas since 2003, when he was stopped by James Toney in the ninth round at Mandalay Bay. He has fought eight times since, his latest outing a respectable effort against WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Dec. 20, 2008, in Switzerland. Holyfield lost by majority decision.
Holyfield's left shoulder, which troubled him much of the decade, wasn't an issue in the fight.
"I thought I did enough to beat Valuev," Holyfield said. "But they didn't see it that way. But that's OK. It just adds to my motivation.
"I feel like I still have a lot left. The shoulder's great. My conditioning's good. I'm ready."
Botha acknowledged that Holyfield fought well against Valuev, saying, "He should have beaten him. He dominated that fight."
Regardless of Holyfield's worthiness in that bout, his licensing by the Nevada Athletic Commission for tonight's fight was the subject of much discussion. There was a lengthy debate among the five commission members about whether he -- or Botha, for that matter -- should have been licensed.
But with Holyfield's most recent medical information raising no red flags and the fact his opponent wasn't someone named Klitschko, the commission granted Holyfield a one-fight license.
Now he carries the burden of proof to show he can still compete and not be a risk to his own wellbeing at 47.
"When I lost to Lennox Lewis in 1999, I thought it was over," Holyfield said, referring to his 12-round unanimous decision defeat at the Thomas & Mack. "But I got back in line, and here I am."
■ NOTES -- At Friday's weigh-in, Holyfield came in at 220 pounds, Botha 250. ... The undercard, which begins at 4:15 p.m., will be highlighted by cruiserweight Henry Namauu, a former UNLV boxer, who faces Rayford Johnson in a scheduled 10-round bout. ... Botha will receive $100,000 for the fight.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Evander Holyfield refuses to go away.The former four-time heavyweight champion insists he still has the skills to regain the world title, though he's 47, last held a belt nearly 10 years ago and has lost two fights in a row.
"I've been hearing for a while that I can't do it," he said. "All it does is light a fire under me to prove people wrong.
"I can still fight. I don't want to leave until I've become the undisputed heavyweight champion one more time. That's been my goal the entire time."
If Holyfield can't beat 41-year-old Frans Botha tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center, he might as well leave the ring for good. But Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts) said this fight is a step toward meeting the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, who own three of the four titles.
"After I whup up on Botha, I want the Klitschkos," said Holyfield, who last won a heavyweight title Aug. 12, 2000, when he beat John Ruiz at Paris Las Vegas for the vacant WBA belt.
If Holyfield wins -- he's a 3½-1 favorite -- he'll do so largely in anonymity. By Friday afternoon, only 2,000 tickets had been sold, leaving promoter Crown Boxing, which is paying Holyfield $150,000 plus a pay-per-view percentage, to hope for a large walk-up crowd. Even $25 lower-bowl seats are going unsold.
Holyfield-Botha is also going head to head against a Top Rank card at the Hard Rock Hotel that has tickets priced as low as $20. There's also the Andre Berto-Carlos Quintana welterweight fight on HBO. And if that wasn't enough competition, there's UFC 112, a mixed martial arts card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, available on pay per view.
Holyfield hasn't fought in Las Vegas since 2003, when he was stopped by James Toney in the ninth round at Mandalay Bay. He has fought eight times since, his latest outing a respectable effort against WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Dec. 20, 2008, in Switzerland. Holyfield lost by majority decision.
Holyfield's left shoulder, which troubled him much of the decade, wasn't an issue in the fight.
"I thought I did enough to beat Valuev," Holyfield said. "But they didn't see it that way. But that's OK. It just adds to my motivation.
"I feel like I still have a lot left. The shoulder's great. My conditioning's good. I'm ready."
Botha acknowledged that Holyfield fought well against Valuev, saying, "He should have beaten him. He dominated that fight."
Regardless of Holyfield's worthiness in that bout, his licensing by the Nevada Athletic Commission for tonight's fight was the subject of much discussion. There was a lengthy debate among the five commission members about whether he -- or Botha, for that matter -- should have been licensed.
But with Holyfield's most recent medical information raising no red flags and the fact his opponent wasn't someone named Klitschko, the commission granted Holyfield a one-fight license.
Now he carries the burden of proof to show he can still compete and not be a risk to his own wellbeing at 47.
"When I lost to Lennox Lewis in 1999, I thought it was over," Holyfield said, referring to his 12-round unanimous decision defeat at the Thomas & Mack. "But I got back in line, and here I am."
■ NOTES -- At Friday's weigh-in, Holyfield came in at 220 pounds, Botha 250. ... The undercard, which begins at 4:15 p.m., will be highlighted by cruiserweight Henry Namauu, a former UNLV boxer, who faces Rayford Johnson in a scheduled 10-round bout. ... Botha will receive $100,000 for the fight.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
Jumat, 09 April 2010
Holyfield Fight: Who's In Charge At NSAC? -- The Sweet Science
By Ron Borges, The Sweet Science
A dinosaur will fight a white buffalo at the Thomas and Mack Center Saturday night and the Nevada Athletic Commission is fine with that. This is not a sign of the end of society as we know it but it may be the end of the Nevada Commission as anything remotely resembling a regulatory body.
The sanctioning of a fight between 47-year-old Evander Holyfield, who is barely capable of still winning an argument let alone a fight, and 41-year-old South African Frans “The White Buffalo’’ Botha is absurd on the face of it but coming on the heels of the NSAC allowing so well shot he’s riddled Roy Jones, Jr. to fight in Las Vegas last weekend against moderately shot Bernard Hopkins makes one thing clear – the Nevada State Athletic Commission should be disbanded.
I mean, what’s the point? What are they regulating? Are they even still empowered to do anything but rubber stamp anything any promoter willing to bring two cadavers to ringside wants?
Jones was pathetic, an empty vessel who was out to sea and out of his element inside a boxing ring. Hopkins was not pathetic but you could see it from where he was fighting. Hopkins has much to be proud of but his performance against Jones, in which he took a knee as often as he took it to Jones, was shameful.
It was not, however, anywhere near as shameful as the performance of Keith Kizer and the commission he serves. While it is true he is simply the executive director and hence has no final vote on any matters, he is – or at least should be – a loud voice of reason when it comes to which boxers are allowed to ply their dangerous trade inside state lines.
Here are the facts about the dinosaur and the white buffalo. The former is 6-7-1 since 1999 and 3-8 in his last 11 fights. His last victory over a heavyweight other than someone who just happened to be a heavy man was nearly eight years ago, when he stopped Hasim Rahman.
He has not fought in 16 months, having lost an achingly boring decision to then WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Dec. 20, 2008. That fight proved two things. Valuev couldn’t fight and neither can Holyfield any more. Yet Nevada is telling the same fighter denied a license in New York for being “non-competitive’’ 5 ½ years ago to, as Monty Hall would say, “Come on down!’’
As for Botha, he is a 41-year-old journeyman who would be considered a has been had he ever been anybody other than a jovial fellow from South Africa. Botha retired for five years but, like the rest of them, couldn’t stay away. Once he was knocked out by both Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko within two years. Those are his career highlights.
Since his return to boxing, Botha has won a split decision from Tino Hoffman and fought a draw in his last outing against Pedro Carrion. If you are not a limb on the Carrion family tree you are excused if you have no idea who he is.
Yet things have grown so dismal in Las Vegas that the town will try anything to attract a crowd. Last weekend it was two old geezers. This weekend it’s another senior tour event. The only problem with this is that there is no seniors tour in boxing and these kind of fights are about as entertaining as watching a pie eating contest but far more dangerous.
For reasons known only to the promoter, Holyfield-Botha will be staged in the Thomas and Mack Center on the UNLV campus. That is where the Runnin’ Rebels play their basketball games. It will be so empty Saturday night that any punch that lands will echo around the place as if they were fighting inside an echo chamber.
This is what it has come to for Holyfield, who was the best heavyweight of his time and truly “The Real Deal’’ for much of it. It has been a long, long time since boxing was anything but a bad deal for him and for the public. The public finally figured this out, which is why his last fight had to be staged in Switzerland. The Nevada State Athletic Commission still hasn’t. Or, if you are extremely cynical, they have and couldn’t care less.
Earlier this week Holyfield said, “I’m happy to have the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas again. Everything that’s happened to me has been here – in 1984 I had to win Saturday and Sunday to make the Olympic team. In 1990, 1993, 1996 and 2000 I won the heavyweight title here. Las Vegas has been the place that’s given me the opportunity to be the person I am.’’
Now it’s giving him the opportunity to be what Roy Jones, Jr. was a week ago which was a sad embarrassment to himself, to the sport he once ruled and to the commission that is sanctioning this kind of schlock.
“My goal has simply been to be undisputed heavyweight champion,’’ Holyfield said in the kind of statement that would have led Mills Lane to stop the press conference if he was still a boxing official.
“I’m a person – I think my attitude is good when people tell me I can’t do something -- I’m driven by what people say I can’t do to prove I can. I’m not disappointed by decisions. I felt I beat Valuev. I won’t quit seeking to do my best and Saturday night you’ll see me give my all. If not enough, I’ll make adjustments. I’m telling you, Saturday night, I’ll look better than I used to be.”
If he does there won’t be many witnesses.
As for Botha, he claims to be the WBF heavyweight champion. The WBF is one thing and one thing only. It is proof that there are too many letters in the alphabet for boxing’s own good. Sadly, four of them are now NSAC.
“I’m defending my title against one of the greatest legends of all-time,’’ Botha said. “This will make my resume perfect.”
Botha is right about that. If he can get knocked out by Holyfield he will have a perfect record of having been stopped by Holyfield, Lewis, Klitschko and Mike Tyson. It would be a quadfecta of concussions.
“The White Buffalo’ is roaming the prairie,’’ Botha (47-4-3, 28 KO) continued when speaking in Holyfield’s direction. “I’m going to end your career, make you retire.’’
Source: thesweetscience.com
A dinosaur will fight a white buffalo at the Thomas and Mack Center Saturday night and the Nevada Athletic Commission is fine with that. This is not a sign of the end of society as we know it but it may be the end of the Nevada Commission as anything remotely resembling a regulatory body.
The sanctioning of a fight between 47-year-old Evander Holyfield, who is barely capable of still winning an argument let alone a fight, and 41-year-old South African Frans “The White Buffalo’’ Botha is absurd on the face of it but coming on the heels of the NSAC allowing so well shot he’s riddled Roy Jones, Jr. to fight in Las Vegas last weekend against moderately shot Bernard Hopkins makes one thing clear – the Nevada State Athletic Commission should be disbanded.I mean, what’s the point? What are they regulating? Are they even still empowered to do anything but rubber stamp anything any promoter willing to bring two cadavers to ringside wants?
Jones was pathetic, an empty vessel who was out to sea and out of his element inside a boxing ring. Hopkins was not pathetic but you could see it from where he was fighting. Hopkins has much to be proud of but his performance against Jones, in which he took a knee as often as he took it to Jones, was shameful.
It was not, however, anywhere near as shameful as the performance of Keith Kizer and the commission he serves. While it is true he is simply the executive director and hence has no final vote on any matters, he is – or at least should be – a loud voice of reason when it comes to which boxers are allowed to ply their dangerous trade inside state lines.
Here are the facts about the dinosaur and the white buffalo. The former is 6-7-1 since 1999 and 3-8 in his last 11 fights. His last victory over a heavyweight other than someone who just happened to be a heavy man was nearly eight years ago, when he stopped Hasim Rahman.
He has not fought in 16 months, having lost an achingly boring decision to then WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Dec. 20, 2008. That fight proved two things. Valuev couldn’t fight and neither can Holyfield any more. Yet Nevada is telling the same fighter denied a license in New York for being “non-competitive’’ 5 ½ years ago to, as Monty Hall would say, “Come on down!’’
As for Botha, he is a 41-year-old journeyman who would be considered a has been had he ever been anybody other than a jovial fellow from South Africa. Botha retired for five years but, like the rest of them, couldn’t stay away. Once he was knocked out by both Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko within two years. Those are his career highlights.
Since his return to boxing, Botha has won a split decision from Tino Hoffman and fought a draw in his last outing against Pedro Carrion. If you are not a limb on the Carrion family tree you are excused if you have no idea who he is.
Yet things have grown so dismal in Las Vegas that the town will try anything to attract a crowd. Last weekend it was two old geezers. This weekend it’s another senior tour event. The only problem with this is that there is no seniors tour in boxing and these kind of fights are about as entertaining as watching a pie eating contest but far more dangerous.
For reasons known only to the promoter, Holyfield-Botha will be staged in the Thomas and Mack Center on the UNLV campus. That is where the Runnin’ Rebels play their basketball games. It will be so empty Saturday night that any punch that lands will echo around the place as if they were fighting inside an echo chamber.
This is what it has come to for Holyfield, who was the best heavyweight of his time and truly “The Real Deal’’ for much of it. It has been a long, long time since boxing was anything but a bad deal for him and for the public. The public finally figured this out, which is why his last fight had to be staged in Switzerland. The Nevada State Athletic Commission still hasn’t. Or, if you are extremely cynical, they have and couldn’t care less.
Earlier this week Holyfield said, “I’m happy to have the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas again. Everything that’s happened to me has been here – in 1984 I had to win Saturday and Sunday to make the Olympic team. In 1990, 1993, 1996 and 2000 I won the heavyweight title here. Las Vegas has been the place that’s given me the opportunity to be the person I am.’’
Now it’s giving him the opportunity to be what Roy Jones, Jr. was a week ago which was a sad embarrassment to himself, to the sport he once ruled and to the commission that is sanctioning this kind of schlock.
“My goal has simply been to be undisputed heavyweight champion,’’ Holyfield said in the kind of statement that would have led Mills Lane to stop the press conference if he was still a boxing official.
“I’m a person – I think my attitude is good when people tell me I can’t do something -- I’m driven by what people say I can’t do to prove I can. I’m not disappointed by decisions. I felt I beat Valuev. I won’t quit seeking to do my best and Saturday night you’ll see me give my all. If not enough, I’ll make adjustments. I’m telling you, Saturday night, I’ll look better than I used to be.”
If he does there won’t be many witnesses.
As for Botha, he claims to be the WBF heavyweight champion. The WBF is one thing and one thing only. It is proof that there are too many letters in the alphabet for boxing’s own good. Sadly, four of them are now NSAC.
“I’m defending my title against one of the greatest legends of all-time,’’ Botha said. “This will make my resume perfect.”
Botha is right about that. If he can get knocked out by Holyfield he will have a perfect record of having been stopped by Holyfield, Lewis, Klitschko and Mike Tyson. It would be a quadfecta of concussions.
“The White Buffalo’ is roaming the prairie,’’ Botha (47-4-3, 28 KO) continued when speaking in Holyfield’s direction. “I’m going to end your career, make you retire.’’
Source: thesweetscience.com
Kamis, 08 April 2010
HOLYFIELD SAYS You Will Kick Yourself If You Don't Buy Saturday PPV -- The Sweet Science
By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science
![No Compromise - The Evander Holyfield Story [VHS]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uYEV2kVlK03ABMFHnyv-LsNJ2cPDyH7sjJ4YnL-lspRE-nexHA8A58RExWhdHTcroCch956ZfLaSuUBFpqAu9sjw-bC285GCJdUdN2rt19dD_imrkskrjr6KqaptU0iK9J4-te2pjKNkB1wisn9-GBBA_0ipRIj8zz8rNUm4eJ0LyarVd7sljvaVzT5XnI_JoiQ25b2xryJiGGk0iyVU61guGvFfAFQPqi2g=s0-d)
Evander Holyfield
has a warning for TSS U. If you don't pony up to watch the 47-year-old Real Deal rumble with 41-year-old Frans Botha on saturday night, you will be kicking yourself come Sunday morning.
"You're gonna see a better Holyfield than ever," he told TSS in a Thursday phoner. "In more recent fights, people didn't see enough combos, you're going to see me bend my legs more, more aggressiveness.
If you watched Holyfield in his last outing, against Nicolay Valuev on Dec. 20, 2009, he didn't exactly make you believe that 40 is the new 30. You shouldn't hold that against him, he tells us. Styles make fights, he explains, and Valuev's reach meant that Holyfield had a hard time getting close enough to touch him.
"Botha's arms are the same length as mine, I don't have to reach too far to get close, I don't have to take too big of a step to him. In this fight, I can dictate the pace."
So, Evander, you're telling us we'll see a prime Holyfield come Saturday, if we decide to purchase the $29.95 PPV?
He pauses. "I wouldn't say prime," Holyfield says, and chuckles. "I'd say mature."
Speaking of people kicking themselves...folks who figured that Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones would let it all hang out, that their animus on display leading up to their rematch wasn't just showmanship, they were kicking themselves for buying the PPV. Holyfield (42-10-2; 0-2 in last two fights, against Valuev, Sultan Ibragimov) says that forthy-something sparring session shouldn't and doesn't reflect upon him or the prospects for a compelling match on Saturday at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
"I don't believe in bad luck," he tells us, as he dismisses the timing of a PPV just on the heels of a soporofic senior showdown. "We're gonna put on a great performance. If they don't see it, they'll wish they would have. I can't make people do something they don't want to do."
If he beats the 47-4 Botha, who didn't box from July 2002-July 2007, but is 3-0-1 since coming back, Holyfield doesn't have any plans set in stone. He'd like a shot at a belt, presumably something bigger than the WBF version on the line Saturday. What about that rumored third tussle with Mike Tyson?
"It's possible," he says. "If Tyson gets in shape, or even if he doesn't, because I can't be concerned with what everybody else does...I'm in ready mode. I'm a performer. I like performing. But I wouldn't bet my life on a third fight with Tyson happening. But if it could be made, if they want to pay..."
The four-time heavyweight champion Holyfield says a publicized spat with his wife, in which she accused him of striking her, and took out a protection order against him, is old news. Wife Candi, age 30, said Holyfield hit her after she refused to show him check stubs to prove she was giving money to their church.
"All that is behind me. No sense in opening as a can of worms. News has an expiration date on it. That hasn't been on my mind," he says. "What married people don't have conflicts?"
And some would say Evander has reached his expiration date as a boxer. Funny, that. I hit 40 in October. And the older I get the cloudier my judgement is regarding the timing of a boxers' retirement. If a man can pass his physical, and he enjoys the savage science, and can still make coin, then who are we to say he should hang them up? Well...as a fightwriter, I take it as my duty to act as a conscience of sorts, in a fiduciary manner, really, for fighters who may not be surrounded by people with their best interest at heart. And for the sport, which is frequently disrespected by people whose sole intent is to make money, without regard to the long view of the sport.
Yes, sometimes a man needs to here from an unbiased source, someone who will delve into brutal truth, and say, "Your best days are far, realllyy far, in the rear view mirror. Your speech doesn't sound so hot, and you risk longterm neurological deterioration if you soldier on, and take punishment." But the older I get, the more I realize that we have one life to live. I'm not banking on any afterlife with supermodel virgins clustering around me. We get one shot here. And it's quite hard to cave in to reality, to admit that your best days are behind you. If a man wants to continue to press on, despite ample evidence that suggests that his task is quixotic at best, well...it's his choice.
Final thought...As Holyfield himself made clear, let the buyer be wary. He promises he'll be fit and furious on Saturday, and I'm sure he believes that, I'm sure he isn't talking a good game just to spur sales. But he's 47, Botha is 41, and so there is a chance that on fight night, once again, it'll be proved that 40 isn't the new 30. If you do buy the show, and the main event is a snoozer, and you find yourself kicking yourself Sunday, well, chalk it up to a learning experience. And when Holyfield-Tyson III goes down next year, plan accordingly.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Evander Holyfield has a warning for TSS U. If you don't pony up to watch the 47-year-old Real Deal rumble with 41-year-old Frans Botha on saturday night, you will be kicking yourself come Sunday morning."You're gonna see a better Holyfield than ever," he told TSS in a Thursday phoner. "In more recent fights, people didn't see enough combos, you're going to see me bend my legs more, more aggressiveness.
If you watched Holyfield in his last outing, against Nicolay Valuev on Dec. 20, 2009, he didn't exactly make you believe that 40 is the new 30. You shouldn't hold that against him, he tells us. Styles make fights, he explains, and Valuev's reach meant that Holyfield had a hard time getting close enough to touch him.
"Botha's arms are the same length as mine, I don't have to reach too far to get close, I don't have to take too big of a step to him. In this fight, I can dictate the pace."
So, Evander, you're telling us we'll see a prime Holyfield come Saturday, if we decide to purchase the $29.95 PPV?
He pauses. "I wouldn't say prime," Holyfield says, and chuckles. "I'd say mature."
Speaking of people kicking themselves...folks who figured that Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones would let it all hang out, that their animus on display leading up to their rematch wasn't just showmanship, they were kicking themselves for buying the PPV. Holyfield (42-10-2; 0-2 in last two fights, against Valuev, Sultan Ibragimov) says that forthy-something sparring session shouldn't and doesn't reflect upon him or the prospects for a compelling match on Saturday at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
"I don't believe in bad luck," he tells us, as he dismisses the timing of a PPV just on the heels of a soporofic senior showdown. "We're gonna put on a great performance. If they don't see it, they'll wish they would have. I can't make people do something they don't want to do."
If he beats the 47-4 Botha, who didn't box from July 2002-July 2007, but is 3-0-1 since coming back, Holyfield doesn't have any plans set in stone. He'd like a shot at a belt, presumably something bigger than the WBF version on the line Saturday. What about that rumored third tussle with Mike Tyson?
"It's possible," he says. "If Tyson gets in shape, or even if he doesn't, because I can't be concerned with what everybody else does...I'm in ready mode. I'm a performer. I like performing. But I wouldn't bet my life on a third fight with Tyson happening. But if it could be made, if they want to pay..."
The four-time heavyweight champion Holyfield says a publicized spat with his wife, in which she accused him of striking her, and took out a protection order against him, is old news. Wife Candi, age 30, said Holyfield hit her after she refused to show him check stubs to prove she was giving money to their church.
"All that is behind me. No sense in opening as a can of worms. News has an expiration date on it. That hasn't been on my mind," he says. "What married people don't have conflicts?"
And some would say Evander has reached his expiration date as a boxer. Funny, that. I hit 40 in October. And the older I get the cloudier my judgement is regarding the timing of a boxers' retirement. If a man can pass his physical, and he enjoys the savage science, and can still make coin, then who are we to say he should hang them up? Well...as a fightwriter, I take it as my duty to act as a conscience of sorts, in a fiduciary manner, really, for fighters who may not be surrounded by people with their best interest at heart. And for the sport, which is frequently disrespected by people whose sole intent is to make money, without regard to the long view of the sport.
Yes, sometimes a man needs to here from an unbiased source, someone who will delve into brutal truth, and say, "Your best days are far, realllyy far, in the rear view mirror. Your speech doesn't sound so hot, and you risk longterm neurological deterioration if you soldier on, and take punishment." But the older I get, the more I realize that we have one life to live. I'm not banking on any afterlife with supermodel virgins clustering around me. We get one shot here. And it's quite hard to cave in to reality, to admit that your best days are behind you. If a man wants to continue to press on, despite ample evidence that suggests that his task is quixotic at best, well...it's his choice.
Final thought...As Holyfield himself made clear, let the buyer be wary. He promises he'll be fit and furious on Saturday, and I'm sure he believes that, I'm sure he isn't talking a good game just to spur sales. But he's 47, Botha is 41, and so there is a chance that on fight night, once again, it'll be proved that 40 isn't the new 30. If you do buy the show, and the main event is a snoozer, and you find yourself kicking yourself Sunday, well, chalk it up to a learning experience. And when Holyfield-Tyson III goes down next year, plan accordingly.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Hopkins would leave Golden Boy to fight again -- ESPN
By Don Steinberg, ESPN.com
Bernard Hopkins is content with his ugly revenge over Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday night -- "a win is a win is a win," he says -- but the aftermath of the fight has him questioning the loyalty of his own promoter, Golden Boy, and contemplating a walk to another promoter if that's what it takes for him to keep fighting at age 45.
Hopkins believes pretty much the entire boxing industry is seizing upon the lackluster Jones rematch as a lever to drive him and his nonconformist attitude out of the sport, "to wrap me up in Roy Jones' grave and throw me in, and kill two birds with one stone," he told ESPN.com on Thursday from his house in Delaware. "I'm not going to let them do that to me."
Many in the media have urged both Jones, 41, and Hopkins to hang up the gloves before someone really gets hurt. Those doubters aren't new to The Executioner, but he seems especially hurt by comments that Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer made to the media. Schaeffer nudged Hopkins toward retirement, saying it "could be something which, as a friend, I might advise him to consider. I think it's time for his friends and family to have a serious talk with him."
Denying Hopkins a chance to earn a living in the ring doesn't sit well with the fighter.
"Maybe the money's not being made off me like it's being made off somebody else," Hopkins said. "If that's the problem, then fine. I've got a lot of other promoters calling me as of today … It's gonna look strange to y'all when I'm moving in with [Bob] Arum or [Don] King. I don't blame anybody for being a businessman. Just tell me, so I can do what's right for my family, so you can't blame me for going across the street. That's all I'm saying.
"It needs to come out now, because at the end of the day, Bernard Hopkins [has] always been his own man, and if the industry thought that I was gonna be a controlled puppet because I'm in with a big company, they're in for a rude awakening. Because Bernard Hopkins is not going to become part of the industry. Maybe I won't survive as a Golden Boy promoter. "
One thing Hopkins is sure of is he's not saying goodbye to the ring just yet.
"The thing is coming to a head based on my next move. Because my next move isn't retirement. I have no reason to retire," he said.
Hopkins has spent nearly a year telling people he'd like to challenge for David Haye's heavyweight title. Now he suggests even his own company (Hopkins has a small equity stake in Golden Boy), which also promotes Haye, is walking away from the idea.
"Don't tell me that he's bigger, he's stronger," Hopkins said, seemingly aiming his comments at his own business partners. "They told [Evander] Holyfield that. You're telling me that [he can't fight Haye] because of the Roy Jones fight? So, let's play Devil's Advocate, Richard … Now you try to use the illegal hit on the back of the head to say that you won't be a part of that [a Haye fight]?"
Even Haye said he'd rather fight Wladimir Klitschko than give Hopkins a shot, and that scenario seems increasingly unlikely.
So what's next? Hopkins says he's "in talks now." Only time will tell.
Source: espn.go.com
Bernard Hopkins is content with his ugly revenge over Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday night -- "a win is a win is a win," he says -- but the aftermath of the fight has him questioning the loyalty of his own promoter, Golden Boy, and contemplating a walk to another promoter if that's what it takes for him to keep fighting at age 45.
Hopkins believes pretty much the entire boxing industry is seizing upon the lackluster Jones rematch as a lever to drive him and his nonconformist attitude out of the sport, "to wrap me up in Roy Jones' grave and throw me in, and kill two birds with one stone," he told ESPN.com on Thursday from his house in Delaware. "I'm not going to let them do that to me."
Many in the media have urged both Jones, 41, and Hopkins to hang up the gloves before someone really gets hurt. Those doubters aren't new to The Executioner, but he seems especially hurt by comments that Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer made to the media. Schaeffer nudged Hopkins toward retirement, saying it "could be something which, as a friend, I might advise him to consider. I think it's time for his friends and family to have a serious talk with him."Denying Hopkins a chance to earn a living in the ring doesn't sit well with the fighter.
"Maybe the money's not being made off me like it's being made off somebody else," Hopkins said. "If that's the problem, then fine. I've got a lot of other promoters calling me as of today … It's gonna look strange to y'all when I'm moving in with [Bob] Arum or [Don] King. I don't blame anybody for being a businessman. Just tell me, so I can do what's right for my family, so you can't blame me for going across the street. That's all I'm saying.
"It needs to come out now, because at the end of the day, Bernard Hopkins [has] always been his own man, and if the industry thought that I was gonna be a controlled puppet because I'm in with a big company, they're in for a rude awakening. Because Bernard Hopkins is not going to become part of the industry. Maybe I won't survive as a Golden Boy promoter. "
One thing Hopkins is sure of is he's not saying goodbye to the ring just yet.
"The thing is coming to a head based on my next move. Because my next move isn't retirement. I have no reason to retire," he said.
Hopkins has spent nearly a year telling people he'd like to challenge for David Haye's heavyweight title. Now he suggests even his own company (Hopkins has a small equity stake in Golden Boy), which also promotes Haye, is walking away from the idea.
"Don't tell me that he's bigger, he's stronger," Hopkins said, seemingly aiming his comments at his own business partners. "They told [Evander] Holyfield that. You're telling me that [he can't fight Haye] because of the Roy Jones fight? So, let's play Devil's Advocate, Richard … Now you try to use the illegal hit on the back of the head to say that you won't be a part of that [a Haye fight]?"
Even Haye said he'd rather fight Wladimir Klitschko than give Hopkins a shot, and that scenario seems increasingly unlikely.
So what's next? Hopkins says he's "in talks now." Only time will tell.
Source: espn.go.com
BOX-OFFICE DUD: Fans mostly ignoring Holyfield-Botha bout -- Las Vegas Review-Journal
By STEVE CARP, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Evander Holyfield shouldn't expect much company Saturday when he fights in Las Vegas for the first time in 6½ years.Through Wednesday, fewer than 1,000 tickets had been sold for the fight between the 47-year-old former heavyweight champion and Frans Botha, 41, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The last time Holyfield fought there, a crowd of more than 17,000 saw him lose a unanimous decision to Lennox Lewis. That was Nov. 13, 1999, with the undisputed world heavyweight title at stake. This time, despite $25 lower-bowl seats, there have been few takers to watch two past-their-prime heavyweights.
Thus continues a long, strange history for Holyfield in Las Vegas. The four-time champion is 42-10-2 with 27 knockouts but only 10-6 in Las Vegas, dating to May 15, 1987, when he stopped Ricky Parker at Caesars Palace. Holyfield hasn't fought here since Oct. 4, 2003, when James Toney scored a ninth-round technical knockout at Mandalay Bay.
"Whoever shows up is going to see I still have it," Holyfield said Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack.
He was standing in front of a large photo from his fight against Lewis, on permanent display as one of the arena's memorable moments. "I've always loved Vegas. There were so many ups and downs. But I've had so many good things happen to me here. More good than bad."
But plenty of bizarre, too.
Holyfield's highs include winning the Olympic Trials box-offs at Caesars in 1984 and winning all four of his heavyweight titles here, including his first when he knocked out Buster Douglas at The Mirage in 1990.
Among the lows are losing the title to Michael Moorer in 1994 and Lewis in 1999, both at the Thomas & Mack.
For the downright bizarre, there are the "Fan Man" fight in his 1993 rematch with Riddick Bowe at Caesars and the 1997 ear-biting incident by Mike Tyson at the MGM Grand Garden.
On Nov. 6, 1993, his fight against Bowe was interrupted in the seventh round when James Miller crashed his powered paraglider in the ring.
"I had a strategy and I was following the game plan," Holyfield said. "I'm ready to finish (Bowe) off and then this Fan Man guy comes flying into the ring. I was really angry. But I said to myself, 'You won the first six rounds, now just win the other half and stop worrying about all that other stuff.' "
The fight resumed after a 20-minute delay, and Holyfield won a 12-round majority decision, becoming world champion for the second time.
Holyfield won the WBA title from Tyson in 1996 with an 11th-round TKO, and their rematch on June 28, 1997, produced once of the strangest incidents in boxing history.
After Holyfield won the first two rounds, an increasingly frustrated and erratic Tyson bit Holyfield's right ear with 40 seconds left in the third. Holyfield jumped, howling in pain. With seconds left in the round, Tyson took another bite. This time he was disqualified, and Holyfield, bloody ear and all, was declared the winner.
"I think getting bit on the ear got blown out of proportion," Holyfield said. "(Tyson) wanted to get out of there, and he did. He didn't want to take any more of a whipping. When I was a kid and I was losing a fight, I would bite. When you want to give up, you bite."
Holyfield said seven years is a long time to be away from Las Vegas. He doesn't know what will happen Saturday. It could be good. It could be bad. It could be bizarre.
"You never know," he said with a smile. "But I'm going to show Vegas I can still fight."
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
I'll prove Haye's not the Real Deal -- The Sun
By GAVIN GLICKSMAN, The Sun
EVANDER HOLYFIELD wants to wreck David Haye's bid to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Haye views Holyfield as one of his heroes after following in the American's footsteps by dominating the cruiserweight division before moving up to trade blows with the big boys.
The Londoner has previously admitted he would prefer to see the Real Deal enjoying his retirement instead of boxing on at the age of 47.
But Holyfield, who fights Frans Botha for the minor WBF belt on Saturday, has WBA title-holder Haye firmly in his sights.
The four-time heavyweight champion said: "He has a belt and I want them all. I wish I could fight him right now."
Holyfield believes a win against Botha at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas will move him a massive step closer to another world title shot.
And he is counting on Vegas being the lucky charm he needs to reignite his career.
The veteran said: "I'm happy to have the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas again because anything that ever worked for me happened here.
"I became the heavyweight champion here in 1990, 1993, 1996 and in 2000.
"Realistically, Vegas is a place that has given me the opportunity to be the person who I am.
"The fact of the matter is I've been driven by the things that people said I couldn't do.
"When you tell me I can't do something, that sets a fire under me to prove that I can.
"My only goal has always been to be the undisputed heavyweight champion."
Source: thesun.co.uk
EVANDER HOLYFIELD wants to wreck David Haye's bid to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Haye views Holyfield as one of his heroes after following in the American's footsteps by dominating the cruiserweight division before moving up to trade blows with the big boys.
The Londoner has previously admitted he would prefer to see the Real Deal enjoying his retirement instead of boxing on at the age of 47.
But Holyfield, who fights Frans Botha for the minor WBF belt on Saturday, has WBA title-holder Haye firmly in his sights.
The four-time heavyweight champion said: "He has a belt and I want them all. I wish I could fight him right now."
Holyfield believes a win against Botha at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas will move him a massive step closer to another world title shot.
And he is counting on Vegas being the lucky charm he needs to reignite his career.
The veteran said: "I'm happy to have the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas again because anything that ever worked for me happened here.
"I became the heavyweight champion here in 1990, 1993, 1996 and in 2000.
"Realistically, Vegas is a place that has given me the opportunity to be the person who I am.
"The fact of the matter is I've been driven by the things that people said I couldn't do.
"When you tell me I can't do something, that sets a fire under me to prove that I can.
"My only goal has always been to be the undisputed heavyweight champion."
Source: thesun.co.uk
Mike Tyson turning back the Clock & the Roy Jones – Bernard Hopkins PPV Sham -- Ringside Report
By Geno McGahee, RingsideReport.com
Mike Tyson on Holyfield/Botha
Mike Tyson
has a couple of fights on his mind as of late. The first is with PETA, a fanatical group that have jumped on Tyson’s reality show because he is racing pigeons, something he has been doing since he was a child. PETA versus Tyson and Animal Planet, the network airing the show, should be an interesting battle…one that Tyson hasn’t concerned himself with too much.
The other fight is Evander Holyfield – Frans Botha this Saturday night in Vegas. Vegas is a place that Tyson is very familiar with and so too are the two combatants going to war this Saturday night. According to a source close to the former champion, Tyson is becoming more and more receptive to the idea of facing Holyfield. Don King is pushing very hard for the Tyson comeback to begin, possibly coinciding with the pigeon show which is set to begin airing next year. Tyson is not getting any younger and that may be too long of a wait. The most likely scenario is that Tyson will be in the ring later this year or early 2011 at the latest.
Evander Holyfield has made it clear both to Don King and to the public through various interviews that he wants Iron Mike. He has stated that “Tyson could only make money” against him, an absurd statement, but one that shows the interest of the “Real Deal” in a third encounter. Should Holyfield get through Botha, expect the wheels to turn for the third match. Should Holyfield lose, it is still a possibility. Either way, the most interested spectator this Saturday night will be Iron Mike.
The Return of Antonio Margarito
Bob Arum said that what Luis Resto did was unforgivable and that he should be banned for life, but when his fighter does nearly the same thing, it wasn’t his fault. Antonio Margarito, proven to have used plaster of Paris in his hand wraps, leading to victories over many opponents that he probably would have lost to had the playing field been even, will return to the ring in Mexico on May 8th in “Latin Fury 14.”
You cannot blame Bob Arum for wanting his fighter to get in there, especially now. The discovery of his cheating ways may actually make him more of an attraction. The boxing bad boys always sell well. Look at Mike Tyson. When his skills diminished and he began becoming more and more unpredictable, people watched. His fight with Lennox Lewis was incredibly successful because of that factor, and now Margarito, the known cheater, comes back to boxing and it will only be a matter of time before he makes his way to the states again.
Money talks and it will scream for him to return. The commission will have to keep a close eye on him, but after time, it may not be as stringent, and we could see him return to the loaded gloves. Remember, for those of you that may dispute the chances of him doing it again, that boxing is a sport where you can make a lot of money. One victory can mean millions upon millions of dollars. Margarito cheated for the money, plain and simple, and he made a boatload, risking the lives of many an opponent and ruining Miguel Cotto in the process.
The PPV buys for this event will tell us something about the future of Margarito. If it sells well, it will be more incentive for Arum to get him back to the states, and with Floyd Mayweather taking on Shane Mosley, and Manny Pacquiao waiting in the wings, there is plenty of money to go around, especially with the hands of plaster, Margarito.
Roy Jones – Bernard Hopkins II: As Advertised
Roy Jones, JR., went to war in an incredibly ugly match with Bernard Hopkins, a rematch 17 years in the making. My prediction was Hopkins by UD in what I called a “no brainer,” and it was Hopkins by UD…a no brainer. I thought it was amusing that the promotion announced that there would be no replay and that anyone streaming it live via the Internet would be punished to the full extent of the law. They knew that this was a bomb and did whatever they could to get people to lay down the 50 dollars to buy it.
The problem with the fight is that it was meaningless and predictable. Jones, JR., had zero left going into it. He was stopped in one round by Danny Green, and pummeled twelve rounds by Joe Calzaghe in recent outings. He beat a bloated Felix Trinidad and a shot Jeff Lacy, names that on paper, impress, but when you see exactly what they have left, you realize that the victories were misleading.
Hopkins has not been in an exciting fight since 2001 when he knocked out Felix Trinidad. His mauling, ugly style is effective, but it isn’t what fans want to see. The bad blood between the fighters, whether real or manufactured to sell the fight, did not do anything to make the PPV any more worthy of the price tag.
This was a business deal. When Green won via first round stoppage, damage control went into effect and suddenly, Green wore illegal hand wraps. It was a pathetic charge, but Jones planted the seed in the public’s mind. Now there was doubt. On top of that, Hopkins chimed in, stating that it was quick stoppage. When you compile the two allegations, some may be duped into believing that Jones was jobbed and therefore you can erase the defeat. In all actuality, he lost fair and square.
Where do the fighters go from here? Jones – Hopkins III? They are tied 1-1 at this point and why not fleece the public for another 50 bucks? Then again, if I’m correct, they will not be in a position to when the PPV rentals come very low. Hopkins will move on and Jones, JR., will regroup and find boxers more shot then he is to beat up and attempt to fool the public into thinking he’s back on his game. Unfortunately for Jones, he built his career on reflexes and they are the first thing to go and they have gone.
Source: ringsidereport.com
Mike Tyson on Holyfield/Botha
Mike Tyson has a couple of fights on his mind as of late. The first is with PETA, a fanatical group that have jumped on Tyson’s reality show because he is racing pigeons, something he has been doing since he was a child. PETA versus Tyson and Animal Planet, the network airing the show, should be an interesting battle…one that Tyson hasn’t concerned himself with too much.The other fight is Evander Holyfield – Frans Botha this Saturday night in Vegas. Vegas is a place that Tyson is very familiar with and so too are the two combatants going to war this Saturday night. According to a source close to the former champion, Tyson is becoming more and more receptive to the idea of facing Holyfield. Don King is pushing very hard for the Tyson comeback to begin, possibly coinciding with the pigeon show which is set to begin airing next year. Tyson is not getting any younger and that may be too long of a wait. The most likely scenario is that Tyson will be in the ring later this year or early 2011 at the latest.
Evander Holyfield has made it clear both to Don King and to the public through various interviews that he wants Iron Mike. He has stated that “Tyson could only make money” against him, an absurd statement, but one that shows the interest of the “Real Deal” in a third encounter. Should Holyfield get through Botha, expect the wheels to turn for the third match. Should Holyfield lose, it is still a possibility. Either way, the most interested spectator this Saturday night will be Iron Mike.
The Return of Antonio Margarito
Bob Arum said that what Luis Resto did was unforgivable and that he should be banned for life, but when his fighter does nearly the same thing, it wasn’t his fault. Antonio Margarito, proven to have used plaster of Paris in his hand wraps, leading to victories over many opponents that he probably would have lost to had the playing field been even, will return to the ring in Mexico on May 8th in “Latin Fury 14.”
You cannot blame Bob Arum for wanting his fighter to get in there, especially now. The discovery of his cheating ways may actually make him more of an attraction. The boxing bad boys always sell well. Look at Mike Tyson. When his skills diminished and he began becoming more and more unpredictable, people watched. His fight with Lennox Lewis was incredibly successful because of that factor, and now Margarito, the known cheater, comes back to boxing and it will only be a matter of time before he makes his way to the states again.
Money talks and it will scream for him to return. The commission will have to keep a close eye on him, but after time, it may not be as stringent, and we could see him return to the loaded gloves. Remember, for those of you that may dispute the chances of him doing it again, that boxing is a sport where you can make a lot of money. One victory can mean millions upon millions of dollars. Margarito cheated for the money, plain and simple, and he made a boatload, risking the lives of many an opponent and ruining Miguel Cotto in the process.
The PPV buys for this event will tell us something about the future of Margarito. If it sells well, it will be more incentive for Arum to get him back to the states, and with Floyd Mayweather taking on Shane Mosley, and Manny Pacquiao waiting in the wings, there is plenty of money to go around, especially with the hands of plaster, Margarito.
Roy Jones – Bernard Hopkins II: As Advertised
Roy Jones, JR., went to war in an incredibly ugly match with Bernard Hopkins, a rematch 17 years in the making. My prediction was Hopkins by UD in what I called a “no brainer,” and it was Hopkins by UD…a no brainer. I thought it was amusing that the promotion announced that there would be no replay and that anyone streaming it live via the Internet would be punished to the full extent of the law. They knew that this was a bomb and did whatever they could to get people to lay down the 50 dollars to buy it.
The problem with the fight is that it was meaningless and predictable. Jones, JR., had zero left going into it. He was stopped in one round by Danny Green, and pummeled twelve rounds by Joe Calzaghe in recent outings. He beat a bloated Felix Trinidad and a shot Jeff Lacy, names that on paper, impress, but when you see exactly what they have left, you realize that the victories were misleading.
Hopkins has not been in an exciting fight since 2001 when he knocked out Felix Trinidad. His mauling, ugly style is effective, but it isn’t what fans want to see. The bad blood between the fighters, whether real or manufactured to sell the fight, did not do anything to make the PPV any more worthy of the price tag.
This was a business deal. When Green won via first round stoppage, damage control went into effect and suddenly, Green wore illegal hand wraps. It was a pathetic charge, but Jones planted the seed in the public’s mind. Now there was doubt. On top of that, Hopkins chimed in, stating that it was quick stoppage. When you compile the two allegations, some may be duped into believing that Jones was jobbed and therefore you can erase the defeat. In all actuality, he lost fair and square.
Where do the fighters go from here? Jones – Hopkins III? They are tied 1-1 at this point and why not fleece the public for another 50 bucks? Then again, if I’m correct, they will not be in a position to when the PPV rentals come very low. Hopkins will move on and Jones, JR., will regroup and find boxers more shot then he is to beat up and attempt to fool the public into thinking he’s back on his game. Unfortunately for Jones, he built his career on reflexes and they are the first thing to go and they have gone.
Source: ringsidereport.com
Selasa, 06 April 2010
Holy man wants to fight Holyfield in Vienna -- Austrian Independent
Austrian Independent
A former Austrian boxing champ-turned priest has said he hopes for a chance to challenge multiple world champion Evander Holyfield
.
Austrian media reported recently that a promotion company was trying to stage a fight with the 47-year-old US boxing superstar in Vienna on 18 August.
Now Congo-born Biko Botowamungo said: "I have been exercising a lot. I’m young forever."
The Vienna-based retired boxer, 52, said today (Tues) he was dreaming of facing Holyfield – who has not lost a fight since 1992 – in the ring in his hometown.
Botowamungo took part in the 1988 Olympic Games for Austria. He lost in the first round against US silver medallist Riddick Bowe.
Botowamungo said he discovered his passion for boxing watching the legendary "Rumble in the Jungle" between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in 1974.
He moved to the United States where he worked as a security guard for the United Nations before coming to Europe. After living in Berlin for a few years, he settled down in Austria.
Botowamungo recently hit out at Austria for "not being a boxing country".
"There’s no pay TV which shows fights, the young people haven’t got a place to work out. They don’t get motivated and promoted either," he said in an interview.
Botowamungo today works as a Baptist preacher at several Viennese communities.
Source: austrianindependent.com
A former Austrian boxing champ-turned priest has said he hopes for a chance to challenge multiple world champion Evander Holyfield.Now Congo-born Biko Botowamungo said: "I have been exercising a lot. I’m young forever."
The Vienna-based retired boxer, 52, said today (Tues) he was dreaming of facing Holyfield – who has not lost a fight since 1992 – in the ring in his hometown.
Botowamungo took part in the 1988 Olympic Games for Austria. He lost in the first round against US silver medallist Riddick Bowe.
Botowamungo said he discovered his passion for boxing watching the legendary "Rumble in the Jungle" between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in 1974.
He moved to the United States where he worked as a security guard for the United Nations before coming to Europe. After living in Berlin for a few years, he settled down in Austria.
Botowamungo recently hit out at Austria for "not being a boxing country".
"There’s no pay TV which shows fights, the young people haven’t got a place to work out. They don’t get motivated and promoted either," he said in an interview.
Botowamungo today works as a Baptist preacher at several Viennese communities.
Source: austrianindependent.com
Senin, 05 April 2010
Evander Holyfield Focused on Francois Botha, Not Mike Tyson -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Four-time heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield
, who is preparing for Saturday night's bout with 41-year-old, Francois Botha, for the fringe, WBF crown, dismissed any notion of a third-bout with Mike Tyson in a telephone interview with FanHouse on Monday.
Holyfield's name has surfaced among those being considered amid rumors that the 43-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) is considering a comeback that would end a ring absence that has existed since his last bout -- a sixth-round knockout loss to Kevin McBride in June of 2005.
The 47-year-old Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts), who will face Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs) at The Thomas and Mack Center, twice defeated Tyson, by 11th-round knockout, and, third-round disqualification in November of 1996, and, June of '97, respectively -- the latter after Tyson took bites out of each of Holyfield's ears.
Despite reports that Holyfield and Tyson have spoken recently concerning a third match up, Holyfield told FanHouse that the last time he talked to Tyson was in October, when each of the fighters expressed mutual praise and admiration during a live episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
"The last time I spoke to Mike was around the time that we did the Oprah show, and since then, there has been no conversation between Mike and myself," said Holyfield, from Las Vegas during a conversation on the celular phone of his manager, Ken Sanders.
"The last time I spoke to him, he told me that he's not into boxing," said Holyfield. "He said that he's not into boxing, and his heart is not into it, and it's something that he just don't want to do. And that's the last conversation that I had with Mike."
Already the only man to win a heavyweight crown for the fourth time, Holyfield could not only be the sport's first five-time heavyweight champion, but also the oldest man to win a crown in boxing's largest division.
Holyfield, who turns 48 in October, can become the eldest man to regain a heavyweight title by surpassing George Foreman, who, at the age of 45, scored a November, 1994, 10th-round knockout to dethrone previously unbeaten, Michael Moorer, as WBA and IBF champion.
Holyfield, who has earned more than $200 million in the ring, said that he would only face Tyson if it led to a shot at a fifth title.
Long-range goals for Holyfield involve bouts with Ukrainian-born, 38-year-old brother, WBC king, Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs), his younger brother, 33-year-old, WBO and IBF champion, Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs), or 29-year-old, WBA titlist, David Haye (24-2, 22 KOs), of England.
"First of all, we wanted this fight [with Botha] so that Evander can win the title, and that Evander can be the champion. And then, we're working on one major fight in Austria, for probably July or August," said Sanders.
"And then, after that, we hope to be in position, somewhere in October, November or December to fight Vitali Klitschko. And I am speaking with people as we go," said Sanders. "I've already spoken to [WBC director] Jose Sulaiman, and Mr. Sulaiman said that he would definitely approve Evander to fight Vitali for the championship."
Klitschko is scheduled to defend his crown against Polish-born, 31-year-old Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs) on May 29 at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
"We've got to pick somebody out for Austria. We want to see how Evander does in this fight here, but we don't have anybody in particular picked out for his next fight," said Sanders, who mentioned 25-year-old Sam Sexton (13-1, six KOs), of Norwich, Norfolk, England, among "some half-dozen" candidates.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Four-time heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield, who is preparing for Saturday night's bout with 41-year-old, Francois Botha, for the fringe, WBF crown, dismissed any notion of a third-bout with Mike Tyson in a telephone interview with FanHouse on Monday.Holyfield's name has surfaced among those being considered amid rumors that the 43-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) is considering a comeback that would end a ring absence that has existed since his last bout -- a sixth-round knockout loss to Kevin McBride in June of 2005.
The 47-year-old Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts), who will face Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs) at The Thomas and Mack Center, twice defeated Tyson, by 11th-round knockout, and, third-round disqualification in November of 1996, and, June of '97, respectively -- the latter after Tyson took bites out of each of Holyfield's ears.
Despite reports that Holyfield and Tyson have spoken recently concerning a third match up, Holyfield told FanHouse that the last time he talked to Tyson was in October, when each of the fighters expressed mutual praise and admiration during a live episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
"The last time I spoke to Mike was around the time that we did the Oprah show, and since then, there has been no conversation between Mike and myself," said Holyfield, from Las Vegas during a conversation on the celular phone of his manager, Ken Sanders.
"The last time I spoke to him, he told me that he's not into boxing," said Holyfield. "He said that he's not into boxing, and his heart is not into it, and it's something that he just don't want to do. And that's the last conversation that I had with Mike."
Already the only man to win a heavyweight crown for the fourth time, Holyfield could not only be the sport's first five-time heavyweight champion, but also the oldest man to win a crown in boxing's largest division.
Holyfield, who turns 48 in October, can become the eldest man to regain a heavyweight title by surpassing George Foreman, who, at the age of 45, scored a November, 1994, 10th-round knockout to dethrone previously unbeaten, Michael Moorer, as WBA and IBF champion.
Holyfield, who has earned more than $200 million in the ring, said that he would only face Tyson if it led to a shot at a fifth title.
Long-range goals for Holyfield involve bouts with Ukrainian-born, 38-year-old brother, WBC king, Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs), his younger brother, 33-year-old, WBO and IBF champion, Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs), or 29-year-old, WBA titlist, David Haye (24-2, 22 KOs), of England.
"First of all, we wanted this fight [with Botha] so that Evander can win the title, and that Evander can be the champion. And then, we're working on one major fight in Austria, for probably July or August," said Sanders.
"And then, after that, we hope to be in position, somewhere in October, November or December to fight Vitali Klitschko. And I am speaking with people as we go," said Sanders. "I've already spoken to [WBC director] Jose Sulaiman, and Mr. Sulaiman said that he would definitely approve Evander to fight Vitali for the championship."
Klitschko is scheduled to defend his crown against Polish-born, 31-year-old Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs) on May 29 at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
"We've got to pick somebody out for Austria. We want to see how Evander does in this fight here, but we don't have anybody in particular picked out for his next fight," said Sanders, who mentioned 25-year-old Sam Sexton (13-1, six KOs), of Norwich, Norfolk, England, among "some half-dozen" candidates.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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