Evander Holyfield Too Much For Brave Vinny Maddalone

By James Slater

Of course, this is not the first time Evander has used what is known nowadays among boxing fans as his “Third Glove,” his head. And though the clash was ruled as unintentional it’s a shame that practically all of “The Real Deal’s” fights have to have a head butt or two thrown in for good measure. Who knows, if the bad cut hadn’t happened so early in the fight, Vinny might have fared better. This is clutching at straws, however. The win was Evander’s and Vinny’s big chance - the biggest of his entire career - had gone.

He tried his best of course, as he always does, and really took some hurt before his corner-man, the great Al Certo, seeing that the damage to his boxer’s face was making the fight a hopeless cause, urged the ref to stop the bout. The time was two minutes and forty-eight seconds of round number three. Vinny was never off his feet, though. And though his vast number of fans - many of whom had left comments on this very boxing web site proclaiming that their man was going to cause the upset - may feel let down by the thirty-three year old, they have no cause to be. In world class terms Vinny and Evander are oceans apart, yet the brave club fighter, now 27-4 (19 KO’s) tried with all his might to bridge the huge gulf between he and “The Real Deal,” now 41-8-2 (27 KO’s).

The question is, what now? For Vinny retirement might be the best option. Hell, some critics were saying this BEFORE last night’s fight. Struggling as he had with the towering seven footer Julius Long in his last fight before Holyfield, the experts said out loud how quitting the sport would be the limited brawler’s safest option. And while I didn’t agree with them, seeing as how a hugely popular fighter like himself was always bound to get a big break at least once in his fighting life, and therefore Vinny had the right to box on until receiving it, maybe the gloves should be hung up now. Vinny could fight on, sure. But at a much lower level than he was competing last night will the same motivation ever be there? At the end of the day, the choice is Vinny’s.

As for Evander. He will carry on fighting until he gets what he wants. Namely another shot at the heavyweight title. And regaining a portion of the crown may not be quite beyond the forty-four year old. He can still punch, is still pretty fast and is still in fabulous physical shape. As for Evander’s dream of once again becoming the UNDISPUTED champion, though, that’s a huge long shot, at best. What seems reasonably clear, however, is that a shot at one or another of the four versions of the title will be offered to Holyfield in the coming months. With the momentum his, now three fight comeback, has garnered and with his enormous popularity and big name value, a title shot against the likes of either Briggs (or his successor) Maskaev (or his successor) or maybe even Klitschko shouldn’t shock too many by coming in the next few months. We will have to wait and see.

Let’s just hope that if and when Evander does find himself in the ring fighting to regain a belt, his “Third Glove” doesn’t have to raise its ugly,…. head?

By Kirk Allen

With a little help from a first round head butt, which opened a cut on Vinny Maddalone’s forehead, Evander Holyfield (41-8-2, 27 KO’s), proved too much for the younger fighter, stopping him in the 3rd round at the American Bank Center, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Holyfield, 44, pressured Maddalone (27-4, 19 KO’s) throughout, landing combinations with pinpoint accuracy and showing overall why he was a previous four-time heavyweight champion. Maddalone gamely fought back hard, at times, despite the blood that was pouring from his cut, but he wasn’t able to match Holyfield’s offensive arsenal and was countered by the older fighter. In round three, with Maddalone seemingly helpless and trapped on the ropes, absorbing terrible punishment from Holyfield, Al Certo, Maddalone’s trainer, stepped in and asked for the fight to be stopped to save his fighter from any more abuse.

Clearly, Maddalone just wasn’t in the same class as Holyfield to begin with. To be sure, before this bout, Maddalone’s best opponent to date was Brian Minto, a decent fighter, no doubt, but hardly at the world class level in which Holyfield has competed at for most of his career. Even worse, Maddalone was beaten twice by Minto, getting knocked out on both occasions. Not too good of a resume for fighting someone like Holyfield, even an age depleted one for that matter. Perhaps if Maddalone had eased his way into a fight with someone like Holyfield, by first fighting a series of fighters that were close to his level, he might have been a little more competitive.

For Holyfield, this is his third consecutive win, having beaten Jeremy Bates and Fres Oquendo, following a nearly two year layoff after a dismal 12-round decision loss against Larry Donald in November 2004. Ultimately, Holyfield hopes to win a part of one of the heavyweight championship titles, if he can get that far.