Valuev to defend against Holyfield

It was speculation for a while, but as far as I know it was only made official last week. It's a ridiculous fight, Holyfield is 46 and he's fighting a seven foot giant. He could end up being seriously hurt, and apparently he's fighting for a very low amount of money.

 

old news.

 

A freak show ... atsch Holyfield has become one of those guys like Duran that will stay around until they are embarrassed time and again ... considering how much he has made it really is sad ...:blood

 

And Duran left the sport healthy and well off.

If Holyfield wants to fight on, let him. It's his decision. He has and does enjoy what he does.

 

He's going to die

 

I heard that Holy's cut will be $750k which is pocket change compared to what he used to fight for.

I think the mildly polished Valuev will put the hurt on him. Bad.

 

The point is, Why is this a sanctioned title bout?

Is Holy a top 20 heavywt ?

What has he done sice he last lost a bid for the title ?

 

I've recently seen worse, I've seen it quoted as more like $600k.
This is man that once made $30m for a title fight. I mean, jeez.

If Holyfield wins, there will be the achievement of becoming the oldest belt-holder in heavyweight history. It doesn't match up to what Foreman did - Moorer had two belts, had beaten the previous holder to get them and was the linear champion, all of which isn't the case for Valuev - but would be worthwhile.

There's then the problem of Holyfield becoming a very enticing target for actual heavy-punching talent like the Klitschkos or a hungry heavyweight looking to make a name for himself by punching out the old man, increasing the chances of Holyfield getting seriously injured...but I'll leave that for another day.

If Holyfield loses, it's just yet another loss to someone he would've beaten in his prime, another sad runaround of his old ghost for the sake of a recognisable name on the marquee and a few extra thousand on the gate.

And no, he's done nothing in the last 14 months to deserve this shot. If you're looking for crumbs of comfort you could draw parallels to Foreman-Moorer again there I guess. I'd argue he's done nothing in the last 6 years to deserve a title shot but we all know how desperate promoters seem to be these days. World Heavyweight title contender Peter Okhello anyone?

 

Nobody that´s just money. Holyfield is still a big name, especially with casual fans who don´t know much about boxing but watch some fights from time to time.

 

Good. If they keep throwing millions at him he'll never give up.

 

I'm just depressed about the whole situation to be honest.
I really never thought Evander would end up scrabbling around like this all these years later. Given the fact that he (temporarily at least) retired in 1993 and 1994 before, I kinda hoped he wouldn't be one of these guys that kept on plugging away through diminishing returns and expectations.
But, he has.

 

I think Holyfield has a chance at an uset TKO, on a counter with the hook.

I also think there is a chance this fight will have some funny business.

Having said that, I'm picking Valuev

 

Come on. atsch

Holyfield is NOT a big puncher, Valuev has never even been wobbly on his feet never mind knocked down, and Holyfield damn near has to jump up to reach his chin. The only chance Holyfield has is a freak injury to occur to Valuev.

 

Don King.... he recycles his heavyweights far beyond date of use. Both are King fighters as far as i know, so for him it's a done deal. Valuev doesn't seem to be in control of anything surrounding his career, other than the fighting itself. I thought it was a stretch when he was given a beltholder-title shot against Ibragimov last year (although some posters here like Sonny's jab gave him a 60% chance), but this is really outrageous.

If Valuev's management had any idea of how to establish a fighter, they would've turned Holyfield down within a second. But hey, Valuev has already fought other washed up King fighters like Ruiz, McCline and Rahman is already fighting Wlad next month....


The only positive aspect of this fight is that Valuev is staying pretty active.

For Holyfield, by the way, it's the worst fight possible. At least against Wlad he'd have a puncher's chance, even if it is 1 in 1000. Against Valuev he has none of that whatsoever. He needs to work hard to reach all the way up and Valuev's punch output is pretty solid, unlike Holyfield who fights in spurts these days.

And to make things worse, Valuev is not a big hitter at all, just a heavy clubber. Which will mean that Holyfield probably receives a prolonged, 12 round beating, instead of a quick merciful TKO.