Evan Holyfield, son of legendary four-time heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, has enormous shoes to fill as he sets out on his own boxing career. And the 154 pounder will box his pro debut on a big stage – on the under-card of the massive (and massively intriguing) Sergey Kovalev Vs. Canelo Alvarez fight in Las Vegas tomorrow night.
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Promoted by Main Events, who handled “The Real Deal,” and trained by former 140 pound contender from the 1970s and ’80s Maurice “Termite” Watkins (who faced names like Saoul Mamby, Howard Davis Jr and Alfredo Escalera), 21 year old Holyfield has his team believing he can emulate his father, even surpass his amazing ring accomplishments.
“He can box and he can punch,” Termite said of the young Holyfield when speaking with Standard Sport. “He’s got the best of both worlds. He is incredibly fast, one of the fastest boxers I’ve seen and worked with. And he can punch. Normally when you are fast, you are not a big puncher, and when you are a big puncher, you are not very fast. He’s got both. He also has an incredible ability not to get hit. So right off the bat, he’s every boxing trainer’s dream.”
Also working with Evan is Tim Hallmark, who was of course Evander’s strength and conditioning expert. In good hands, the 6’1” prospect will likely be moved fast. Watkins feels his charge can even surpass what Evander managed to do, which as we know was a helluva lot.
“I think he has every ability to do what his dad did and even more,” Termite said
Of interest is the fact that Evander will take a back seat in the training and handling of his son. Termite says this is a good thing, as when a father trains a son in boxing, “feelings get in there.”
“I just think it’s good for a dad to be a dad and let the trainer do the training,” Watkins said.
It will be very interesting following the career of the next generation Holyfield. Canelo and Kovalev are of course the stars of tomorrow night’s huge fight card in Vegas, but there will be plenty of eyes on Holyfield as he fights as a pro for the very first time.