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Sunday, July 2, 2006
Don’t count Holyfield out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Since Evander Holyfield hasn’t a problem with trying to fight until a couple of years after the sun drops from the sky, neither should you. His Hairness has it right by saying, “Only in America.” Remember, too, that Tuesday is the Fourth of July, which commemorates our inalienable right to get punched in the face as often as somebody is willing to pay us.
So leave Holyfield alone in his pursuit of becoming the only five-time heavyweight champion. He has 43-year-old legs after dropping three straight and going 2-5-1 in his last eight bouts, but he has a decent chance to shock the world.
You know, again. This time, Holyfield is ignoring the chorus of “What in the name of Sugar Ray Robinson is he doing?” by preparing to climb between the ropes in August for the first time in two years. In case you haven’t noticed, he is a living Rocky, and he has stuck and moved his way through doubters to rise from an Atlanta ghetto to a Fairburn mansion.
“They didn’t think I was going to make the Olympic team, and they didn’t think I was going to beat Dwight Muhammad Qwai,” Holyfield told me, easing into an impressive roll call. This was after he announced that he’ll resume his career in Dallas against Jeremy Bates, or is that Bill (Herschel Walker) Bates or Norman (“Psycho”) Bates?
Anyway, Holyfield added, “They didn’t think I would beat Buster Douglas. They didn’t think I would come back and beat Michael Moorer. They didn’t think I would beat [Mike] Tyson. And I know good and well, me, being a five-time heavyweight champion of the world, they don’t believe that either.”
Here’s what I believe: Holyfield isn’t saying all of this because he is living in La-La Land after getting smacked around during his last fight by the forgettable Larry Donald. Most heavyweights these days are forgettable, which is the first of two reasons why Holyfield’s comeback makes sense. Lennox Lewis was the closest thing to the undisputed champion, but he retired. Vitali Klitschko was the next-closest thing to Lewis, but he also retired. Now the division is cluttered with the likes of Samuel Peter, Calvin Brock, Lamon Brewster and Nicolay Valuev among the top 10 contenders.
Holyfield isn’t worse than those guys, and I hear you. The forgettable Larry Donald is one of those guys. The same goes for James Toney and Chris Byrd, Holyfield’s opponents before Donald. But when Holyfield lost those fights, he suffered from several ailments. Leg and neck cramps. Bad back. A surgically repaired shoulder that he continued to ignore, although doctors told him to rest for two years.
Which brings me to the second reason not to dismiss Holyfield’s dream: Relatively speaking, he’s healthy. “Since I don’t like pulling out of fights, I kept going during those three straight losses, even though I was hurting, but this is the best I’ve felt since 1993,” Holyfield said. In contrast, Don Turner, his former trainer, attributed the boxer’s aches and pains to age. So did Jim Thomas, Holyfield’s former lawyer, and Holyfield said boldly that he ousted them for their disbelief.
There also were the New York State Athletic Commission folks who kept Holyfield from fighting in the United States with a suspension for “poor performance” against Donald. After Holyfield protested, he passed a series of medical tests. The suspension was changed from medical to administrative, and he was allowed to fight anywhere but the state of New York.
Thus the Texas fight.
“As bad as it was for [the New York commissioners] to do what they did, it was a blessing,” Holyfield said. “It allowed a lot of fights not to come off, but I kept training as if I was going to fight anyway. During that time, everything [legs, neck, back, shoulder] got back right. Now people will see a rejuvenation, and you’ll hear them say, ‘How in the world could his career jump back up to this high level?’ “
Even if the current Holyfield is more the Rocky of Clubber Lang than the one of Ivan Drago, the bottom line doesn’t change. Added Holyfield, with “Stars and Stripes Forever” rattling around my subconscious, “All successful people, at some point, they had somebody call them crazy, but that’s what makes our country such a great country. If they call you crazy, they still can’t stop you from trying.”
Actually, they can, but it would be unpatriotic.
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