Holyfield shows no sign of slowing down in his return to the ring
In a world where growing old usually stirs thoughts of settling down and retiring to live in peace and solitude, managing one’s health while enjoying all that life has to offer, boxers may sometimes appear as the black sheep.
Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is doing nothing to change this image as he has challenged reigning WBA title holder, David Haye. Ignoring the fact that he’ll be blowing out 48 candles on his birthday cake next month, Holyfield’s desire to fight has never withered with time, and the decision loss he suffered in 2008 against Nikolai Valuev is still crisp within his mind.
However, Holyfield’s goal isn’t to prove his superiority over Valuev, but rather his right to occupy the title Valuev held before he lost it to Haye. The former champion was quoted as saying: “I'm looking at both the Klitschko brothers and David Haye. I want to fight the people with the titles. I'm fighting this Williams guy because I need to stay active.”
His match with Sherman Williams, scheduled November 5th, may be a safer route to embark on his return to sport given the Klitschko’s brothers knock-out rates.
Holyfield had already fought once before against former South African WBF title holder Francois Botha, in early April winning by a technical knock-out. Though few people actually attended the fight, the American boxer showed promise as he brought Botha to the floor in the eighth round and continued to batter him with punches when he came to his feet.
Some would say the aggressive tactical skills that Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield possessed were slowly returning, however critics of the sport are quick to point out that Botha himself was past a fighter's prime at age 41.
Still Holyfield remains confident, training just as often as he used to and just as intensely. There’s not a question in his mind that his popularity grows daily, and even he insists it may not be due to his talented skills, but just the fact that people out there want to know that a fighter who has been in the game for close to four decades still has something left.
“I'm still the most popular heavyweight that is fighting,” boasts Holyfield. “It's obvious that if they felt I was an easy fight, they would go ahead and fight me. But they realize they don't want to get duked by the old man. But if they want to make money, I'm the guy they need to fight.”
Holyfield’s drive and determination are not unknown in boxing and he continues to make reference to one of the greatest comeback fighters, George Foreman. Foreman's return to the sport was marked far past his prime, but he went on to regain the title at the age of 45 and finally quit the sport two months shy of 49 when he lost his belt.
Holyfield hopes to one day break the record of the world’s oldest boxing champion and if he can continue strong, given the list of bouts he would like to undergo, there is a strong chance he’ll go the distance in breaking that record.
“As for hunger, I don't do it for the reason I did it when I was a kid. I grew up poor and they told me I wasn't going to be anything, which was the fire in my belly because every time I fought somebody it was to prove them wrong. Now I don't have that, after everything I've accomplished. People say 'you're too old'. But what's the point of living if you can't set goals? It's not how you start, it's how you end.”
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