Holyfield vs Byrd Dec 14
Diego Rodriguez
11.12 - Last Saturday's fight between McCline and Klitschko promised fireworks between two big men in the heavyweight division, and, perhaps, may have provided a preview of where the heavyweight division may end up in the near future. For those people who had the patience to sit through the 10 rounds of cautious exchange, a real treat may be in store for them come December 14th when Evander "the Real Deal" Holyfield steps into the ring against number one contender, Chris Byrd, at the boardwalk convention center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Byrd, whose most impressive wins are over the likes of Tua and Vitali Klitschko, looks to banish the ageless Warrior from boxing; but so many fighters have tried to do this before, and, to their dismay, they have come out of the fight wondering how the heck Evander can still fight effectively at this late stage in his career.
Over the years, Holyfield has repeatedly shown us that we can never count him out, but as know-it-all boxing fans, we still ignore what Evander has to say, and instead choose to focus on his age and on all the deadly wars he has been in, throughout his career. This has been the case, mainly, because of his first performance against Lennox Lewis, and the three long, slow dances with Jon "the Quiet Man" Ruiz.
Going into Saturday's slug fest, I am in the minority, predicting that Holyfield is going to look good in this fight. This will be the first time in the last five years that Evander has a reach advantage over his opponent, a fighter who is considered to be a small heavyweight himself. Sure, Byrd has been in there with very good fighters, and has shown us that he can make adjustments in his game to pull off impressive wins. But if you look at his wins over David Tua and Vitali Klitschko, David Tua's fight style was custom tailored for the slick southpaw-Tua is a one dimensional fighter, and does not know how to adapt to fighters who can box and move; and Vitali Klitschko was winning the fight on all three cards before he quit on his stool, due to a shoulder injury. And he barely survived the wrath of Wladimir in a one-sided fight, scored for the Ukrainian nightmare.
Evander Holyfield has proven his remarkable ability to constantly make adjustments when needed the most, and has almost always pulled off the impossible when the public has said that Evander should "hang 'em up." After the fight between Klitschko and McCline, George Foreman stated that Evander does not need to prove anything in this fight, but that Byrd is the one whose task it is to prove to the world that he can perform at the level of a champion.
My prediction for this fight is that Evander will, yet again, pull off an upset against Byrd, and that it will be an impressive bout. Last year's heavyweight line-up showed promise for a series of good fights; we had Klitschko vs. Mercer, Tyson vs. Lewis, and we also had Holyfield vs. Rahman. It turns out, Holyfield vs. Rahman was the most exciting of the three fights. Although considered an old man, Holyfield seems to continue to perform like he always has, seemingly oblivious to the fact that just about the whole world thinks that he should hang them up.
Evander will never change, he is a true champion, and he's been proving that to the public throughout his entire career-he has shown us what kind of fighter he is. Being the underdog only drives this man to over achieve, and in this fight, most people are saying that Byrd will win… well, it sounds like it's that time again-time for Evander to prove, once again, that he is the Real Deal.
