Once the Apple, Now The Black Eye

It’s all the better for any dedicated writer not to try and explain to the readers how he’s unable to fire himself up for a subject that challenges the credibility of a sport he defends.
Just in case you’re wondering which angle you are about to be maneuvered into, I’m going to shock you with the revelation that writers, sometimes, don’t enjoy the subjects they are given to deal with.
To bring you closer to the point, may I ask the mood you would be in if – as a reporter- you are assigned to cover your own father’s trial and conviction for grand larceny? Yes, your biological father whom you love so much, even as you are never comfortable with the way the old man comports himself such that he’s never out of range of the long arm of the law?

I’m certain a good number of us are in that situation since learning of the new year fixture involving Evander Holyfield (versus Sherman Williams) coming up Saturday in the US.
Let me straighten things out, though. Holyfield’s upcoming weekend ring appearance was never an assignment imposed on me, as would be expected of any media house that considers it a major global event.
Fortunately, this one is just an inconsequential support fixture in a predominantly entertainment show holding in the flashy Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, in what is advertised as for Evander’s spurious World Boxing Federation heavyweight title.
Then, why take it when it is an event over which no one will lose his sleep?
Well, I have chosen to take it only because the subject here is Evander Holyfield who has chosen to relegate himself to the level of the dregs of the same boxing sport he ruled with dignity during his prime. I have chosen to take it because our hero has chosen to put his health at great risk by ignoring all wise counsel to stay away from a sport in which his only role is to catch punches with the head.
Evander Holyfield is an accident waiting to happen in the boxing sport that will send it crashing to its very foundation. He is sports highest profile candidate courting the temptation to graduate from being the apple of the eye to being the black eye of pro boxing.
At age 48, and with nearly 27 years completed in the circuit, Holyfield has reached the point where he can only serve as a ladder for competitors not born when he first turned pro straight from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. It is to his credit that the Georgia native is the last of the successful US LA Olympics boxing squad – that included Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Mark Breland and Tyrell Biggs – still in active competition.
I dare add that Evander Holyfield is not a man to ignore, even as he recklessly chooses to provide the ammunition for detractors of the pro boxing sport who are hell-bent on successfully prosecuting their mission of smear-campaign to bring the sport down. A man of his stature can silence even legitimate excuses.
Here is a man long identified as one of boxing’s mega-success cases of all time; a man who more than lived up to his initial touting and delivered far beyond everybody’s expectations. Holyfield belongs to the rare breed whose ability was founded less on skill than the warrior instinct. By far his biggest ring assets were heart, ruggedness and conditioning which served him well in title duels against the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.
This piece is not about listing every bit of Holyfield’s ring accomplishment. It is on record that the man unduly stressing himself today is already a five-time world champion – four as heavyweight – and a guaranteed Hall of Famer whenever he hangs the gloves.
The key feature about him is that Evander was warrior personified, while in his elements. What he exuded in and out of the ring was simply pride, resolve, professionalism and the will to succeed. Holyfield never believed there was any human barrier he could not overcome. Such was his faith in himself that he challenged everything in his path and out of it.
It is recalled that Holyfield initially registered his presence with the world cruiserweight stage which he had conquered and unified by 1988. Next, the ambitious warrior proceeded to rebuild his frame by adding 25 pounds of muscle and invade the heavyweight division where there were far more lucrative challenges.
Five years into his entrance into the heavyweight ranks, Holyfield had secured two title reigns, plus a whopping $120million earned as purse money into the bargain.
Evander’s next major challenge came when he defied the ruling of doctors pronouncing him unfit to further his career on account of a diagnosed weak heart. In mid-1994 he went to see a Baptist healer from whom Holyfield received his miraculous healing, and returned to the ring.
In what was considered a mismatch, not many gave Holyfield much of a chance when he signed to meet a still useful Mike Tyson for the latter’s world title. In late 1996, Holyfield’s mental strength, resolve and will to conquer prevailed via an astonishing eleventh round stoppage win over a man instituted as the favoured 25-1 odds-on.
The following year, Evander repeated the feat – this time in only three rounds as Tyson elected to have himself disqualified via the infamous ear biting saga.
Today’s Holyfield’s best days are effectively behind him. No contrived miracle can bring him atop a heavyweight division in the hands of a trio consisting of the two Klitschko brothers, and the Briton, David Haye.
Holyfield still lives on that same strong will and resolve. Yet, we know that, deep down, our once warrior friend is just going through the motions, with the vain and vague hope that resolve will lead him to the top again.