“Evander Holyfield, a warrior lost”
 Submitted by Mike Casile, PBR (June 27, 2006)
As fans, we tend to develop amnesia when it comes to aging champions. When Ali was getting pummeled by Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick in the early 80’s, it somehow, temporarily diminished his professional and personal accomplishments. It wasn’t until ALI’s personal courage was brought to light, due to his illness with Parkinson’s disease that we began to look back at the legend he truly was. It was difficult for anyone who admired him, to watch “The Greatest” get handled by lesser fighters.
When I listen to the 43 year old, 4 time world champion, Evander Holyfield discuss his future, his denial is so
unbelievably evident, and, quite frankly, it is very hard listen to. There have been many instances of this denial in the ring, but none was more apparent to me, than after he was destroyed by the blown up middleweight, James Toney. Immediately following the “so called” fight, he began to talk about how he would be back. I was astonished that no one around him, who cares for this man, would tell him it’s over.
I believe Evander Holyfield was one of the greatest fighters of my generation. When he entered his first battle with Riddick Bowe in 1993, most experts believed that he had been through too many wars by then, to be affective against the bigger stronger Bowe. He proved in a loss, that a warrior’s heart was the best weapon a fighter could possess. He went on to fight 19 more fights, suffering 7 losses and one draw, after that classic battle, which in my opinion left both Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield different fighters in the ring.
In 1996 Shortly after Mike Tyson captured both the WBA and WBC heavyweight belts, and looked seemingly unstoppable, Holyfield again stepped up and totally dismantled Tyson, taking the WBA belt with him. I was sure after that victory that Evander would walk off into the sunset but we all know that was not the case.
He has not won a bout in over 4 years, and his last three fights were humiliating, and, in my opinion, borderline criminal. Today, he is not so much the “REAL DEAL”, rather more like an old warrior, wandering an empty battlefield, looking for a war, with no ammunition.
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