Most of the world first laid eyes on Evander Holyfield when he was a gutsy, talented and classy U.S. Olympian competing in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Holyfield was dominating New Zealand’s Kevin Michael in the semifinals of the light heavyweight tournament when he unleashed a vicious left hook on Michael’s jaw at precisely the same time the referee yelled “break!” Michael crashed to the deck, and Holyfield was disqualified.
But the sportsmanship Holyfield displayed in accepting his bronze medal was exemplary, and the world began a love affair with the muscular, mild-mannered Georgian. Even the eventual gold-medal winner, Anton Josipovic, felt compelled to share the top step with Holyfield at the awards ceremony — knowing full well that the “Real Deal” was the best fighter in the competition.
Almost 27 years later, the world still loves Holyfield — which is why it’s so difficult to see the now-48-year-old former cruiser-weight and heavyweight champion stubbornly chasing a title shot that will never come.
Holyfield continues his ill-advised comeback when he meets trial-horse Sherman Williams today in a heavyweight contest in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (7 p.m., pay-per-view).
Misguided
Holyfield, 43-10-2 (28 knockouts), ceased to be a meaningful player in the heavyweight division about eight years ago — or about the time he was destroyed by natural middleweight James Toney. A year later, Holyfield was shut out and outpointed by Larry Advertisement
Donald — a fighter himself past his prime who never lived up to his potential in the first place.
It was about that time that the New York State Athletic Commission said no to Holyfield, telling him that it could no longer in good conscience license him to box. It was a common-sense move by the commission, which clearly was trying to do the right thing.
Too bad the rest of the world didn’t follow suit. Holyfield simply went to other states and other countries for his boxing license, fighting Jeremy Bates, Fres Oquendo, Vinny Maddalone and Lou Savarese in Texas (Savarese in El Paso), Sultan Ibragimov in Russia (a shot at a paper title), Nikolay Valuev in Switzerland and Frans Botha in Las Vegas.
And so, years after someone actually tried to do something about it, the comeback continues — another former great fighter trudging on, misguidedly fighting no-names, has-beens and never-weres.
The hand speed that allowed Holyfield to fire quick, heavy flurries at George Foreman in 1991 is long gone. The slick boxing skills that guided him to an upset victory over Riddick Bowe in 1993 rematch are a memory. And the reflexes that let him counter Mike Tyson’s bombs in 1996 are faded.
All that is left is a decent punch, and a heart the size of his native Atlanta.
Harsh reality
Holyfield used to walk to the ring accompanied by the rest of the legendary 1984 Olympic team, including Meldrick Taylor — a fighter on which boxing’s brutal reality has become apparent. Taylor’s speech can’t be deciphered without the aid of subtitles.
Remarkably, Holyfield still sounds relatively coherent. But, if he continues to participate in this roughest of sports, it won’t be long before he too suffers the same physical consequences as Taylor. And when the end comes, it will be ugly.
Most of us, however, prefer to remember the young kid who conducted himself with such dignity 27 years ago — the one who went on to become one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
It makes nights like tonight easier to handle.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at [email protected].
