Why did Evander Holyfield fight so far past his prime

He took the Bible verse "be fruitful and multiply" as a literal command and declined to use all forms of birth control. Hence he had a lot of children to support.

 

Yeah I heard that before but he must’ve made enough millions to have support a couple of school full of children for life so how did all the money run out?

 

He had a 54,000 square foot home on 235 acres that cost a little bit to maintain. And you have to figure that a guy who decided he needed a house as big as the White House may not be making wise financial decisions just in general.

 

Most likely his insane spending habits.

Secondarily, his fighting heart. Guys with hearts that big usually have trouble quitting.

 

a bit of both.

Guys with hearts that big sometimes get delusional and see themselves as they were in their prime. See Saad Muhammad.

 

So many of these guys came after Larry Holmes, who I always have seen as the smartest of the bunch financially ... lived frugally and wisely, invested everything and is living very well right now. All that, in spite of not being a well-educated man by any means - but he knew he didn't want to wind up broke and took steps to keep it from happening. If you look at his personal life - no scandals, married to the same great woman for the whole ride - that certainly plays a role in it too.

 

A combination of money and love for the sport. I remember going to an Amauter tournament about 13 years ago and seeing him sitting by himself in the front row watching the fights. It was early in the card and there wasn't to many people in the crowd at that point but he was watching intently. I'm surprised he never got into training fighters.

 

If boxing (or anything) is the only thing you have in your life, the only interest, then the transition away from it would be very hard. Holmes had his businesses and other interests. So many lived strictly for boxing.

 

Likes fighting and is hard up for dosh !!! .Hang on that sounds like me .!!!!!

 

Didn´t he also have like 10 children from different women? I guess there might be cheaper hobbys....

 

I honestly think that it was his ego and self belief more than anything else!

 

Money was a big part, but it also has to do with his outrageous competitive drive.

Think about the guy's background: Olympic medalist, champion in 11/12 fights, fighting through hell to beat Qawi, going up to heavyweight, upsetting Buster Douglas, beating bigger & stronger opponents, avenged loss to Bowe, two wins over Iron Mike, honorable losing performances to Lennox, avenging his loss to Moorer etc.

Holyfield isn't the greatest heavyweight ever, but his career might have even more twists and turns than even Muhammad Ali, in terms of turning public consensus on its head.

Imagine what it's like to overcome extreme odds (and even predictions that you're risking permanent damage) to beat a terror like Tyson. Imagine basking it that kind of stunning win, for millions of $'s, the crowd cheering wildly, the whole world singing your praises afterward. I think that's probably a feeling that's impossible to know unless you've lived it. But I'll bet its addictive, and hard to give up, even when you're laboring to beat someone like Jeremy Bates or Lou Saverese instead of Mike Tyson.

 

Another quick note: I remember there was a ton of hand-wringing both on here and in the boxing media about Evander's never-ending career. I should know, I was a participant in that hand-wringing.

But now with close to a decade since his last fight, it actually wasn't as bad as we all thought. IMHO it only really got bad in 2003/2004. He took a major beating from Toney, and then against Larry Donald he looked totally lost. Ineffective.

After that though, it was really just wins over over journeymen or relatively dignified losses against the posers who claimed to be 'champions' during the K2 era. It's really not that bad. Definitely better than RJJ's mortifying slide into obscurity. Holyfield frequently looked labored and unable to fire during his late career fights, put its not like he was getting iced in terrifying fashion like Roy, or for another example, Augie Sanchez.

 

This may have had something to do with it....

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