Four-time champion Holyfield set to fight Oquendo

[madinmaryland]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/more/09/07/bc.box.holyfield.oquendo.ap/index.html

..snip

NEW YORK (AP) -- Evander Holyfield, the first four-time heavyweight champion, wants to become the first to win five.

The 43-year-old Holyfield resumes his long comeback Nov. 10 when he fights Fres Oquendo at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

In his most recent bout, Holyfield stopped Jeremy Bates in the second round on Aug. 18 in Dallas.

"I am asked all the time why I still fight," Holyfield said at a news conference Thursday. "My answer is always the same. I want to reach my goal. And that goal is to become a world champion one more time.

"When I do, I'll sit down. Until then, I'm going to be in the battlefield."

..snip

The man is 43 and is going to get himself killed. George Foreman was lucky to come out of his return alive a few years ago. I don't think Holyfield will be so lucky. The last time he was competing, he looked slow and that was a few years ago.

RETIRE NOW HOLYFIELD!!!

[H2O Man]

1. Fres Oquendo

was a talented fighter. He did not appear to reach his full potential, and he is a couple years past his prime. However, he still is good enough that he should beat Holyfield.

In fact, because Fres isn't a devastating puncher, he may pose more of a health risk to Evander. In his prime, Holyfield was a far superior boxer, and would have easily defeated Oquendo. But at this point, it is likely that Evander will absorb a significant amount of punishment, likely over at least 8 to 10 rounds. And that is dangerous.

Regarding George Foreman, he wasn't "lucky" at all. He was talented, and knew exactly what he was doing. It's important to remember that organic brain damage, though it can occur from a single punch, is almost always associated with long-term punishment. Holyfield's career, unlike George's, is a classic example of a guy who was a gutsy warrior, and who took way too many punches even in the fights he won. George really only had two fights where he took significant punches in his "first" career (Ali and Lyle). More, Evander is a cruiserweight who -- according to Larry Holmes -- took some steriods to bulk up and become a relatively small heavyweight. George is a giant. That makes a very big difference as far as being able to take punches in th ring, including the potential damage. Thus, even though he is a good bit older, George shows no damage from his boxing career. Evander does.

[TSIAS]

2. ...

This is a big step up for Holyfield in his comeback. They put him in with a total tomato can, Bates, in an effort to build him back up and make him seem like a legitimate contender. While Oquendo isn't a tremendous fighter, he's fought at the highest level and been competitive with the likes of David Tua and Chris Byrd.

If Holyfield is getting outboxed by B level fighters like Larry Donald, I can't see this Oquendo fight being much better for him. I wish I could understand what Holyfield's motives are for making this comeback. I always thought he made a decent amount of money in the ring. Not to be sarcastic, but maybe he needs the cash to pay child support for his illegitimate children.

Disgracefully, FOX Sports Net is promoting this as a $45 PPV main event. I can't see how this does much more than 40,000 buys. They sandwiched it in between the Baldomir/Mayweather and Pacquiao/Morales III events. They scheduled the fight for a Friday night, so as not to interfere with HBO's Klitschko/Brock fight on Saturday.

I thought the sustained beating he took against Toney would be enough to knock some sense into Holyfield. The sad thing is that with the exception of the Toney fight, he's never really been beat up in a fight. Therefore, some commissions are still allowing him to fight. I can't see how this has a happy ending for Evander.

[madinmaryland]

3. I don't either.

I have no idea what he's thinking (if he can).

[H2O Man]

4. You must have missed

him being interviewed by the guy Brian on Fox's morning news show. Evander believes that God has choosen him to unify the heavyweight title and return it to America. Now that is sad. The last former champion who spoke of "bringing the title back to America" as part of his Christian duty was Floyd Patterson in 1965.

Strangely, even Brian seemed to recognize that Evander should not be boxing.

[madinmaryland]

5. That bizarre, even for Fox.

What the hell was he talking about? "returning it to America" :wtf:

Don't they call that "punch-drunk". I think Jerry Quarry died from massive brain damage suffered from all the pounding that he took over the years. Sad to see.

BTW, I don't watch Fox or any of the other morning shows.

[H2O Man]

6. Both Jerry and Mike

died from the combination of punches plus significant substance abuse after retiring from the ring.