Boxing

Sharkie’s Machine: Portrait of Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield


Photo: Carlos "Stiff-jab" Kalinchuk

By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

09.10 - There is no arguement that James Toney took it to Evander Holyfield this past Saturday. A lot of people have been urging Holyfield to retire from boxing for a couple of years now. But Holy is a warrior. He refuses to quit. He said if the day comes that someone comes along and beats him up…he would hang up his gloves.

That day has come.

Since turning pro as a Cruiserweight in 1984, Evander Holyfield has had a tremendously successful career in Boxing. He’s made a lot of money and brought a sense of legitimacy to an ailing sport, wrought with corruption, bad decisions and mismatches. He’s a four-time World Heavyweight Champion. He has faced just about every worthy Heavyweight of his era. He has always been one of the most respected Heavies since 1990 when he moved up from Cruiser to Heavy and knocked out Buster Douglas in three rounds to win his first Heavyweight Titles, the IBF, WBC and WBA Belts, the same ones lost by Mike Tyson.

He later went on to defend his titles with a decision win over big George Foreman and beat Bert Cooper in November of 1991. He beat the 1992 version of Larry Holmes.

In what turned into a fierce rivalry, he faced HW Champion, Riddick Bowe—three times. Holyfield lost his Titles to Bowe. In their first fight in 1992, Holyfield was floored by Bowe and lost by decision.

Immediately after that fight, Riddick Bowe relinquished his WBC Title in an effort to avoid fighting Lennox Lewis.

Then in 1993, Holyfield won a Majority Decision over the unbeaten Bowe and regained the WBA and IBF titles for his second reign as HW Champion. Then he lost to Bowe in November of 1995 in a fight where Holyfield floored Bowe for the first time in his career. Holyfield was knocked down twice though in the eighth round and lost by TKO 8.

Riddick was Evander’s great rival. It contributed to Holyfield’s great history of never giving up and fighting the best men for all the marbles. Holyfield fought in our time but was a real throw back to the days of rivalries like Ali/Frazier. Unlike a certain “pound for pound” type of today’s fighters who are allergic to competition and won’t make rematches with former opponents even though they stood out later in time as excellent potential match ups that might’ve found a new chapter in Boxing history.

In the mid 90’s, he beat both Alex Stewart and Ray Mercer, who Holyfield put down for the first time in his career. He fought Michael Moorer twice, in another rivalry. Once for a loss in 1994 by MD 12 and a redeeming TKO 8 win over Moorer in 1997. In those days, Teddy Atlas was barking orders in Moorer’s corner.

In November of 1996, after losing by TKO 8 to Bowe in 95’ and winning a TKO 5 over Bobby Czyz, Evander took his most defining fight against 45-1 “Iron” Mike Tyson.

I remember thinking that Holyfield was aging and Tyson would destroy him. Although Tyson hadn’t beaten anyone worthy of mention since being released from prison in 1995, he still had that indestructible ‘mystique’ created by the media. Tyson was indestructible…but only against lousy fighters or guys paid to take dives like Etienne or Seldon to name a couple.

Before Tyson fought Holyfield, his camp paid Lennox Lewis $4 Million NOT to fight Lennox. Lewis’ camp took the money. Iron Mike opted to fight Bruce Seldon instead, who during the charade of their fight in Atlantic City, went down from a Tyson miss to the head that lead to a TKO 1 victory for Mike. I remember Seldon saying that, “Tyson hits hard!” after their fight. I wondered how he knew that since Tyson didn’t even hit him. That gave Iron Mike the WBA Title.

In the Tyson/Holyfield fight, Evander took Tyson to school and won just about every round. He would wrap Tyson up every time he got close and found the perfect range to jab away and ultimately make Tyson look like an amateur. He scored a TKO 11 victory over Tyson in a fight that was refereed by the late, great, Mitch Halpern. Remember Halpern? He was about the fairest Referee I ever saw work a fight. That event was considered the Fight of the Year. Even Buster Douglas didn’t embarrass Tyson the way Holyfield did.

A lot of fans stopped counting out Evander Holyfield after that performance over the supposedly indestructible Iron Mike. A rematch was set immediately.

In a press conference after the fight, Tyson behaved graciously, crediting Holyfield for, “being the better man that night.” When asked about the head butts in the fight, Tyson said, “We were both coming in with our heads first, we both head butted each other and Evander was just the better man that night.”

Tyson’s camp insisted Halpern NOT referee the rematch, scheduled for June of 1997.

Mills Lane was given the honor—if you can call it an honor to ref a fight where one fighter would actually bites off the ears of the other.

Nothing Tyson did intimidated Evander. Without the intimidation factor, Tyson was lost in space.

It was clear from the opening bell that Tyson was in for another beating at the hands of Holyfield so in one of the most disgusting displays of poor sportsmanship I ever witnessed, Tyson showed just how much a big name fighter could get away with without being forever banned from the sport by biting off Holyfield’s ears. It made James Butler’s knockout-sucker-punch of Richard Grant look like a greeting card.

Mills Lane warned Tyson after the first ear bite and disqualified him after the second. Holyfield won by DQ3.

Tyson knew he would be knocked out again in that rematch and opted to foul his way to a disqualification instead. That way, he could lose without looking like he quit. Though, that was EXACTLY what he was doing by fouling repeatedly in such a disgusting manner.

Tyson’s vicious Pitt-bull image would not lose as much stock as it did after his first beating by Holyfield. But instead, Tyson would always be remembered as the man who bit Holyfield’s ears off. Afterwards, Tyson stuck to the story that Holyfield was head butting him and he retaliated accordingly. We all know Holyfield is infamous for head butts but that’s why there’s a referee in there, to take points when a foul is repeated. Anyone who believes Tyson’s story will believe anything from the man who has twisted arms, always hits after the bell and committed every foul I can think of in or out of the ring. To this day I still hear (mostly young) fans rave about how great Mike Tyson still is. He had the potential to be great—but never realized it due to lack of discipline and being manipulated by his handlers.

Mike Tyson was suspended for a year for his crime in the ring. Funny thing is he only fought once a year anyway. Tyson sells tickets and PPV’s, so he has always been above the rules. Like him or not, no one misses his fights. But Boxing is the bastard child of professional sports, where money is always more important than the integrity of the sport.

* * *

Later in 1997, Holyfield redeemed himself and won his third HW Championship with a TKO 8 victory over Michael Moorer, who had previously taken his titles in 1994. Moorer was past his prime by that time and though Holyfield was looking older, he was still winning against big name fighters.

By 1998, Evander was starting to look as though Father Time was getting impatient with him. Holyfield even had some health issues involving his heart in the past, but he overcame that too and continued fighting. Holyfield defended his Titles in a fight against Vaugh Bean, who was 31-1 at that time. Evander put Bean down in the tenth and won the decision but didn’t look good at all doing it.

Then came 1999 and another major rivalry in a pair of Lennox Lewis fights. The first fight looked like a clear win for Lewis in the eyes of every fight fan I know. But—THE FIX WAS IN. Two of the Judges scored opposite each other, 115-113 for Holyfield and 116-113 for Lewis. Judge Arthur Mercante Sr. scored it 115-115, rendering the decision a Draw.

In the mind of Don King, Holyfield’s promoter, there’s always more money in rematches born from controversy then to just honestly name the winner the first time around. Lewis was robbed and a rematch scheduled.

In their November 1999 rematch, Holyfield did better but still clearly lost to Lewis. Lennox actually got the win by UD 12. The referee was Mitch Halpern.

Having lost two of his last three fights, in August of 2000, Holyfield fought lowly regarded John Ruiz for the vacant WBA Heavyweight Title.

John Ruiz? The same Ruiz who was KO’d by David Tua in 19 seconds? Yep. I suspected this was a Don King orchestration designed to put a belt back on Holyfield’s waist and put him in a better position for big money fights against other Titleholders. As is typical in these scenarios, Don King was the promoter of both fighters.

Holyfield had a tough time fighting the younger and awkward Ruiz and it looked like Evander had lost. The Judges, doing their job and obeying their Paymaster, scored Holyfield the winner. And with an asterisk, Holyfield won his fourth HW Title. Guess who refereed that one? Richard Steele.

Of course, a rematch was set.

In March of 2001 the second fight featured Evander being harassed by the gritty Ruiz and even knocked down in the eleventh round. Ruiz rightly got the decision with scores of 116-110, 116-112 and 114-111.

And that was not the end of that; a rubber match was set up, creating one of the least attractive trilogies in boxing history.

In December of 2001, Holyfield effectively handled John Ruiz and most felt he won. In a perfect act of deception, one Judge scored it 115-113 for Ruiz, one scored it 116-112 for Holyfield and the other, 114-114 for a Draw. With that Draw, Ruiz got to keep his Title. What was Don King thinking? No one wanted to ever see these two fighting again. Why not give Holyfield the Title that he actually won? Maybe King knew Ruiz was going to lose the title easier to another King fighter? Only the Good Lord and Don King know the answer to that one.

With his quest to reclaim the HW titles, in June of 2002, Evander took a Title Eliminator fight with Hasim Rahman. Rahman’s only real claim to fame was knocking out Lennox Lewis in April of 2001—only to be KO’d by Lewis in their rematch in November of that same year.

I thought Rahman would beat Holyfield since Evander was starting to look old after going more than five rounds anymore. But Holyfield was resourceful and really used his head. Literally. He head butted his way to a Technical Decision victory when Rahman’s head swelled to surreal dimensions after repeated head butts and the doctor stepped in the ring and stopped it. It should have been a Technical Draw but Holyfield got the Judge’s nod. That’s Boxing.

That win put Evander in a position to vie for the IBF Title, owned by Chris Byrd, a man no body wanted to fight. Holyfield admitted he didn’t want to fight Byrd because his style was difficult to negotiate. Byrd was the type fighter that could slip punches all night and win a points decision with love taps that score points.

Holyfield, being the warrior he is, took the Byrd fight anyway in December of 2002. His stated goal since losing his Title in 1999 had remained to, “recapture the Heavyweight Title”. During that fight, Holyfield hurt his shoulder and was unable to use his left hand because of it. Holyfield was out-boxed all night. Sure enough, Byrd won a UD 12 without ever hurting anything save Evander’s pride. Ten years ago, Holyfield would have beaten Chris Byrd to a pulp.

Holyfield had surgery on his left shoulder and continued to fight.

* * *

With Ruiz owning a Title at Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight “Champ” Roy Jones Jr. moved up to Heavyweight for the express purpose of taking John Ruiz’ WBA Heavyweight Title. With every facet of the fight dictated by Jones—via contract negotiation; from the incredibly one sided purse in Jones favor to the ring size, Referee and Judges, Jones won a boring UD 12 over a stationary and uninspired Ruiz in March of 2003. Referee Jay Nady threatened to take points if Ruiz hit and held. That effectively disabled Ruiz only real weapon, hitting and holding. Standing in front of Jones and trying to box was no recipe for success. Ruiz lost his WBA Title to Roy Jones Jr., who tagged Ruiz enough times to secure an easy win in one of the most boring fights I ever saw.

Jones was the new owner of the WBA Heavyweight Title and time was coming for him to defend it. His mandatory would have been Vitali Klitschko. But that was too dangerous a proposition for reluctant Roy. After pretending to want fights against Corrie Sanders and Lennox Lewis, Jones opted to fight the man he once said was too old and past his prime and would be a pointless opponent: Evander Holyfield.

Jones knew Holyfield was very beatable at this stage of his career. Holyfield presented a great opportunity for him to chalk up a great name on his questionable resume without taking too big a risk. He offered to fight Evander with an insulting contract offer that was so one-sided, Holyfield refused. We all know that Holyfield fears no man. The only reason the Jones fight didn’t happen was—Jones. Typical.

James Toney, the former Cruiserweight Champion made a move up to Heavyweight after winning a decision over poorly coached former Cruiserweight Champion,Vasilly Jirov in April of 2003.

Toney offered to fight Holyfield and the offer was accepted. A lot of people doubted a man as small as Toney could beat Holyfield. After all, Holyfield may be old, but he is a smart fighter who would have considerable power over Toney, who was used to fighting smaller men.

Many have accused Holyfield of being a blown up Cruiserweight for a long time. Finally, Holyfield would be fighting a man more or less his own weight. That perceived advantage would prove impotent in light of Holyfield’s lack of stamina and speed against the 34-year old James Toney, who proved once again to be a very good defensive fighter as well as having a slick offensive as well. Toney was like Chris Byrd plus. He could slip punches and hit back with accumulations of punches that eventually put Holyfield on the canvas.

Holyfield looked great in the first round. His power advantage over Toney seemed clear. He was visibly bigger than Toney too. When Toney hit him, he barely budged, when he hit Toney, you could see the power difference as Toney would be forced backward, even on blocked shots.

As the fight progressed, referee Jay Nady continually warned Evander about coming in headfirst. Father Time waits for no man. With each passing round, Holyfield looked slower and older. Toney’s right hand kept finding a home on Evander’s face.

Between the later rounds, Don Turner, Evander’s trainer, warned him that if he kept getting hit by Toney’s right hands, he would stop the fight. Coming into the ninth round, Evander tried to mount his offense but James Toney was too good at slipping all Holyfield’s slow motion punches and countered with direct hits. Holyfield fell after absorbing so many shots. Though he beat the count, his corner threw in the towel. It was a sad thing to see. It was over.

James Toney won by TKO 9. He had beaten Holyfield to the punch all night. He also beat Roy Jones Jr. to getting a win over a famous Heavyweight on his resume.

James Toney was not very gracious in victory. Though he expressed respect and admiration for Evander Holyfield, his behavior during the post fight interview was less than professional as he slapped the microphone from Interviewer, Jim Grey, saying, “I don’t like you!” and walked away. Nobody likes Grey, but that’s beside the point. I guess today’s young fans who grew up watching the Jerry Springer show appreciate that type of behavior.

Grey interviewed Holyfield instead. Evander was polite and honest about how and why he lost. He said Toney was too fast and beat him to the punch every time. He didn’t complain about his corner throwing in the towel, saying he understood that Turner did what he thought was right.

Evander Holyfield may have overstayed his time as a prizefighter. He lost to some guys he would’ve eaten alive in his prime. But he is not diminished. Evander Holyfield is a legend.

Holyfield is a Hall of Fame fighter who brought dedication, determination and class to the sport. He was never petty. He never chided Mike Tyson for the wicked behavior that left him maimed for life. He never complained about bad decisions that went against him. He never talked trash about his opponents. He was never a quitter. His career is the story of a man who overcame adversity. As a small Heavyweight, he fought the best of the big men. Win or lose, he always put everything he had into every fight. Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward are lightweight versions of Evander Holyfield in terms of true grit and respect for their profession.

It has been a great honor to be around during the era of Evander Holyfield. A true Warrior in this age of ‘carefully managed’ Boxers who more often find ways NOT to fight the best competition and yet, call themselves Champions.

* * *

Agree or disagree?

Send comments to dshark87@hotmail.com

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