Valuev to defend against Holyfield

I'll bet you'd find a few who fought on a bit too long or sunk low.

 

We have to look at the bigger picture though. I believe in certain cases fighters should be saved from themselves.

What is the upside to this fight? Realistically, Holyfield is going to lose badly, probably taking a beating in the process. How will that look to the general media and public? (The few that will care anyway.)

Only in boxing can you have a guy of nearly 50 being allowed to slowly turn himself into a vegetable. Only in boxing can a hopelessly faded competitor still be allowed to compete at "world class" level.
It's a bad, bad advertisment for the sport however you look at it.

It's pitiful really and I can't help but feel sad and yet angry with Evander.
I'm sad that he's fighting for peanuts and destroying what's left of his brain matter.
I'm angry because he never made provision for the future, and not only is he ruining is own health, but helping to further tarnish the sport.

Strange, but Evander was always seen as the level-headed one, and Tyson the idiot that could and would destroy himself.
Yet it's Tyson who has had the sense to call it quits. He enjoys good health and doesn't slur his words.
Evander is the one who is being the idiot now. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't turn into a wreck the way Ali has.

Oh, and I just want to add that I think Valuev is a coward and a shameless *****.

 

http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/6343/holyfield-fighting-his-xanadu/

Only last month, Holyfield avoided possible jail time by agreeing to come current with the terms of his child-support payments for one of his 11 children. Toi Jenese Irvin, the mother of Holyfield’s 11-year-old son, Evan, in June had filed a petition for contempt in Fayette County (Ga.) Superior Court, claiming that Holyfield had missed two child-support payments totaling $6,000. Making matters worse for Holyfield, a Utah consulting company sued him for failing to repay a $550,000 debt.

Creditors still are circling Holyfield like vultures over a parched, half-dead man crawling in the desert, but at least he has temporarily staved off one threat. In October he agreed to put $100,000, within three years, toward Evan’s education fund. He also agreed to pay for the boy’s private-school tuition in addition to maintaining the $3,000-per-month child support the court had mandated.

“I do love my kids,” Holyfield said after both parties reached the accord. “I do want them to get a better education than I did, and I do all I can to support them.”

So why would a fighter who earned $248 million in purses – $107 million of which came during a dizzying six-fight stretch from 1996 to ’99 – be taken to court on a chump-change matter of a few thousand dollars in late child-support payments?

“I’m not broke,” Holyfield said in explaining why he keeps finding himself in arrears. “I’m just not liquid.”

That is a way of saying that the bulk of Holyfield’s money is tied up in his mansion, a 109-room monument to conspicuous consumption that stands on a 235-acre tract of Georgia’s priciest real estate. With the cost of the land, it took Holyfield nearly $60 million to construct his stately pleasure-dome. Since then he has taken out two additional mortgages, totaling $5 million.

 

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Holmes fought on, as of now, for seven years longer then Evander. He was 53 years old when he finally retired.

In the last few years of his career he lost to the likes of Brian Nielson and received a gift decision against Maurice Harris. Hardly world beaters.

Seeing some parallels here?

Holmes was 48 years old when he got his last world title shot against Nielson, another fighter from Europe like Valuev. He came just short of winning it even though the fight was in Nielson's backyard.

Holmes now slurs his speech but he finally retired and he's happy.

So tell me, who exactly was screaming bloody murder for Larry's personal choice to continue fighting as late as 2002? Has Larry's slight damage from boxing made him some brain dead vegetable that can't function?

Ali is the exception, not the rule. Most fighters don't end up as badly damaged as him, you could argue that Bobby Chacon functions better then Ali despite being in as many wars as anyone. Then again, not many fighters get beaten on for 15 rounds by Earnie ****ing Shavers.

Like I said, it's Holyfield's decision. He's a man and he's more then aware of what he is and isn't doing, as was Ali. He's one of the fight games ultimate warriors and I can't imagine the high he must get doing what he's been doing for over 20 years now, and how happy it must make him to fight, win or lose.

It's a double standard in my opinion. So many fighters have fought on for so long, for so much less money and fame then Holyfield now, but who's screaming for their retirement?

Who gave a **** when Marion Wilson was almost 60 years old fighting Oliver McCall twice?

Why is Holyfield the exception that makes the boxing community collectively disgusted?

Give it a break.

 

Holmes took nowhere near the amount of punishment that Holyfield is and has been taking.

I agree with your point - let the man fight, but Holmes is a bad comparison.

Ali is a good comparison because his later 1970s style relied on soaking up the punishment.

 

Two fights with Shaver's and he hasn't taken comparable amounts of punishment?

Holmes had 75 career fights.

Holyfield isn't leaps and bounds beyond what Holmes took over the course of his career.

 

I don't like ANYONE fighting over a certain age when their skills have undeniably eroded. Be it Holyfield or anyone else. Holyfield is close to shot, yet he's fighting a seven footer that will pound on him for as long as Holyfield stays upright. Are you okay with that?
What will it take to convince you this is an appalling set of circumstances? That it should not happen?
Nielsen was a feather-fisted guy and Holmes has always been able to look after himself. Evander, never one to avoid being hit, has been in more ring wars and is fighting a huge guy who has the capacity to beat him up but good over 12 rouunds.

Holyfield is horribly deluded and more importantly, basically bankrupt. He's not fighting for the love of it, or at least only for the love of it. That's bull****. He's got no other way of making big money quickly. Would he fight Valuev for nothing? Of course not. Hell, what has he done to earn the shot anyway, other than being old and beatable?

By the way, Ali isn't an exception. He's just the most well-known example. Thousands of fighters have been badly maimed or worse for fighting for too long. My one friend's grandfather suffers badly from Parkinson's and yes, it was boxing related. The fact that nobody's ever heard of him doesn't make it any less real.

Where does this end? Let's say Evander puts up a good fight and isn't badly hurt. Okay fine. That'll only encourage Holyfield to fight on. As you age, the chances of suffering long-term and permanent damage from boxing rise. That's an undeniable fact.

Hopkins is still good enough to compete at the top. I have no problem with him continuing to fight on. Holyfield is badly faded, and he's been in countless ring wars already. Nobody can deny he's a prime candidate to suffer long-term damage. It may be his choice, but it doesn't make it any less a sad and dangerous situation.

It's a lose-lose situation all round for Evander, and for boxing.

 

Holmes, except for a couple of titanic right hands from Shavers, took nowhere near the beating that Ali did. Even in two fights.

75 career fights is irrelevant, it's not the number of the fights but the amount of damage.

Holmes' style is and always was to use the jab and avoid return fire. Holyfield is different.

Holmes also had a nice five-year gap between 1986 and his comeback in 1981 where he only fought once, Tyson. I'd call him a bit more well-preserved than Holyfield, who has consistently fought for over two decades with no such layoff.

 

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I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

 

IF he can beat Valuev why shouldn't he go after the Klitschkos ?

If Holyfield beats Valuev he's worthy of being ranked in the top 5 heavyweights in the world, and he's the only non-Klitschko holding a belt. Holyfield versus W.K or V.K would make sense.

Of course, none of us expect him to beat Valuev. But he might. And I'm pleased to hear Holyfield expects to win.

Hasim Rahman is fighting Wladimir next month, and no one is calling Rahman deluded for believing he can win. Yet I'd say Rahman has looked just as bad (and probably worse) as Holyfield, and lacking even half as much desire, in recent years.

I think people should lay off all this Holyfield-bashing. I wouldn't knock a man for believing in himself, especially a man who's achieved so much through self belief.
Fair enough, you might not consider him a worthy title challenger, that's a good point. And you might expect him to get embarrassing beating. But dont watch the fight then !

As for health issues, it's up to the doctors to clear fighters to fight. And it's the doctors and the fighters who know whether there is any damage. Amateur diagnoses aren't worth squat.
I bet Holyfield is in better shape than about 35 of the guys who Valuev has already fought. Boxing fans should be more worried about the hundreds and thousands of professional losers who get knocked out and take beatings to pad the records of up-and-coming prospects, all the time. Holyfield, 46 years old maybe, but he's still a relatively good boxer.

 

You are right ... there are many sad examples like Ezzard Charles ... Ray Robinson comes to mind as well as does Sam Langford ... it is pathetic ...