AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > August > 13 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHolyfield is his same “old” self
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Fighters don’t change. The tipoff that it’s time to go is everything changes around them.
Opponents no longer are champions, contenders or even mild threats. They’re dead-end club fighters with names like Jeremy Bates, who once lost to somebody with a record of 15-39.
Paydays aren’t counted in several millions. They’re way south of seven figures and based on the gate, not pay-per-view, because there is no pay-per-view (Fox Sports will televise). There’s no real promoter. Or a guarantee. The ring isn’t in Las Vegas or New York. It’s in Dallas, following a training stopover in Shreveport.
Evander Holyfield hasn’t changed. He’s the same guy who beat Mike Tyson. He’s the same guy who lost 11 of 12 rounds to Larry Donald in his last bout, the same guy who has had over seven years of mostly forgettable and regrettable fights. What changes? His camp. Managers and trainers leave. Even a massage therapist leaves.
In Holyfield’s eyes, they can always be replaced. As long as he has a checkbook, there is somebody out there to say, “Yes, sir. No, sir. You can whip anybody out there, sir.”
Holyfield may be finished. The finish line, that’s another story. He fights next Friday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas against Bates, who is 21-11-1, coming off two straight defeats to guys you’ve never heard of and was handpicked for obvious reasons.
Holyfield still believes there is a road back to the heavyweight title. He turns 44 in two months and certainly is aware what most people think of all this. His following has diminished. His legacy is taking hits. (If you wish to remember the better stuff, ESPN Classic is showing, “SportsCentury: Evander Holyfield” Monday night, following a replay of Holyfield-George Foreman, which was 15 years ago.)
Does he care? No. I asked him to try to be objective for a moment, to pretend he was a fan looking at recent results. The three straight losses. The 2-5-2 record in the last nine fights. The inability to throw the counterpunch immediately after the brain tells you, “Throw the counterpunch.”
His response: “I would realistically hear what [the fighter] had to say. I would ask myself, ‘Do I agree with that?’ I would ask, ‘Is he making excuses?’ When a person makes excuses, he won’t get better. I don’t give anybody excuses. What happened is what happened.”
But he talks about coming back too soon from rotator cuff surgery in 2002. Both shoulders never properly healed, he says. He was forced to fight an alternate style because of the pain, he says. He’s as strong and healthy now as he has been since the Tyson fights, he says.
You may believe all that’s an excuse, that it doesn’t excuse the obvious: His reactions are slow. He’s getting hurt by body shots like never before. He can’t put punches together. But you’re the blind one, Holyfield says.
“I know what I can do and can’t do,” he said. “People say, ‘Evander got old,’ but you don’t get old overnight. They told me to take two years off after the surgery and I didn’t do it. I know that. I know how this is supposed to end.”
Most feel otherwise, even in the soft landscape that is boxing’s heavyweight division. Neither attorney/adviser Jim Thomas nor trainer Don Turner felt Holyfield should continue fighting. They were replaced before the Donald fight, which was so lopsided that the New York Athletic Commission put Holyfield on a medical suspension (which has since been lifted). The only two holdovers are strength and fitness trainer Tim Hallmark and camp aide Mike Weaver, Holyfield’s nephew. Promoter Don King’s contract has expired. Holyfield is his own promoter and manager. Ronnie Shields, an assistant early in his career, is his trainer.
He admits he’s starting near the bottom, with an opponent like Bates. But the idea is to take a pulse of his body and his timing, without exposing himself to much risk. This isn’t like the old days, when he ordered promoters to arrange bouts with top contenders so he could immediately get back to a title shot.
I asked Holyfield if he had a timetable for this latest comeback. I’m not sure why. I already knew the answer.
“My whole thing is, I’m not going to quit,” he said. “I’d like to be a champion within 13 or 14 months. But if it doesn’t come, I’m still going to fight.”
One thing doesn’t change. Everything else does.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz
Comments
By byron pearrson
August 13, 2006 07:59 PM | Link to this
it wiil be a sad day when Holyfield ends up like Ali because he did not have the courage or pride to walk away and his weakness like Ali …women and money will keep him in the ring as long as some greedy promoter will grant him approval to fight. I can remember Wille Mays faling down in the outfield , or some of the other great legends hanging on because the audience or the roar ofthe crowd motivates them . Pride comes before destruction
By Andy
August 14, 2006 02:18 AM | Link to this
Hollyfield was not a great puncher in his prime—he was a warrior. All heart and endurance and he would take punches and wear the other guy out. He is old now and can’t out train top fighters. Foreman was a hitter—he could take a bunch of blows and if he got lucky and landed a big punch—you would probaly go down. Hollyfiels does not have that ability. I will always root for holyfield—but I will be happy for him when he hangs them up. And as long as he doesn’t hurt himself—keep boxing if that makes him happy. His legacy is already assured—what he does now is for himself. Nothing can take away what he has done in the ring before.
By Fulton
August 14, 2006 11:39 AM | Link to this
Perhaps nothing can take away from his past accomplishments but….what good will it all do, once HE can’t even remember ‘em…..
By Big Bree
August 14, 2006 01:31 PM | Link to this
Being the true ATL-ien that I am and given the fact that I now partially live in the Dallas area, I plan to go and see Holyfield fight this Friday. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I attended Warren Boys Club where Holyfield started his career in boxing. Viewing this fight on Friday will allow me to tell my kids and grandkids, hey I saw this legend at the beginning and at the end of his career. I don’t know how much that’ll mean but at least I’ll be able to tell’em. And, if I’m lucky, maybe I won’t get thrown out of the arena like I did at the Boy’s Club for taunting the fighters…….lol!!
By will c.
August 14, 2006 01:31 PM | Link to this
Stop trying to tell people what to do with their life. Holyfield wants to fight and if someone will pay him to do that, so be it. Holyfield is a grown man who’s capable of making his own decisions.
I can remember when reporters were telling George Foreman (45) that he was too old and slow. Well, George shocked the world and became world champion and went on to sell millions of the George Foreman grill. If he listened to all the negativity from the sports writers, George would have never accomplished his dream. I say, “Go Holyfield Go.”
http://www.williamcoit.com
By Hoopergdawg
August 14, 2006 04:45 PM | Link to this
My one and only concern about Holyfield is his health. Watching him box in the 90s was great with everyone rooting for him. Now everyone is rooting for him to please stop. I don’t want to see him die in the ring.
By Coop
August 14, 2006 05:25 PM | Link to this
I met Evander Holyfield in Lenox Square mall going up the escalator; he was right behind me with two huge body guards.
I remember turning to him and telling him how much I enjoyed and respected him as a fighter. I was a teenager at the time and Holyfield was in the prime of his career. I’m now in my early 30’s, and it saddens me to see that the great Atlanta Warrier is still fighting.
If he were only slightly less than the man he used to be I could support him, but the fighter we see in the ring today is not even close to the Holyfield I knew.
Morgan Freeman said that every fighter has a certain number of rounds in him, maybe Holyfield has just enough left to get his hands raised once more in victory. Good luck Champ!!