Although he often only weighed between 205 and 220 pounds, it wasn’t Holyfield’s size that mattered. Rather, it was his ample heart that made him a gritty scrapper, the buzz saw who took on so many of the name heavyweights over the past two decades.

Holyfield knocked out Buster Douglas in 1990 to gain the heavyweight title, he won a close decision over Riddick Bowe in 1993 to regain it, he knocked out Mike Tyson in 1996 to become a three-time titlist and added a fourth occasion in 2000 when he outpointed John Ruiz.

As late as 2002, at the age of 39, he was still able to dig deep and explode in combinations, taking a split technical decision over a head-butted hematoma-growing Hasim Rahman. After that win and his 40th birthday, Holyfield unsuccessfully challenged Chris Byrd for a vacant title belt, meeting a foe that so many other heavyweights had happily avoided.

That was four years ago.

In the mind of Evander Holyfield, the only things needed are his beliefs, but the past’s necessary determination has become the present’s naïve delusion in the face of mounting evidence that Holyfield neither can nor will once again become “the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world.”

In the minds of others, there are questions over whether “The Real Deal” can really still contend.

After the Byrd loss, Holyfield blamed his ineffectiveness on a hurt left shoulder, an injury that would require surgery. Yet ten months later against James Toney, there would be no physical injuries, but rather an emotional humiliation.

Toney, in fantastic shape and in prime form, out-boxed Holyfield, potshotting him and breaking him down until Holyfield’s corner was forced to throw in the towel following a ninth-round knockdown.

“He was able to get off before I did,” Holyfield told interviewer Jim Gray after the fight. “The timing is a little off…. He’s just a little too quick for me.”

Then Gray asked the most important question, the same question that Larry Merchant had asked following the Byrd loss, the same question that has been asked through Holyfield’s last nine fights, in which he has gone 2-5-2: is it over?

No.

“Warriors … don’t quit.”

And how could he? In Holyfield’s mind, quitting would equal a failure to once again become “the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world,” as he told Bob Costas prior to the Byrd fight in 2002.

In that interview, Holyfield said that goal was set in 1992, after he lost the WBC, WBA and IBF belts to Bowe in the first part of their trilogy. Since then, he had regained titles, but having mere parts of the championship would not allow him to feel whole.

So, he fought on, facing Larry Donald in November 2004 and losing a one-sided decision. Still, he wouldn’t quit, so the New York State Athletic Commission tried to force him out, placing him on suspension despite Holyfield’s passing the required medical tests.

For nearly two years, Holyfield has been away, dancing with the stars and waiting for the chance to return.

And now, at the age of 43, he’s back.

On August 18, Holyfield will meet Jeremy Bates, a 21-11-1 (18) journeyman who has been knocked out by Kirk Johnson, Ray Austin and Brian Minto. The bout will be televised as part of Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period, an outlet that of late has been happy to show the worst damn heavyweight comeback fights, period.

“I actually believe … I can whup anybody,” Holyfield told the assembled media at a press conference last week. “Sure as I sit here today, I will be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”

Beating Bates is a far cry from contending with today’s top heavyweights, even if the Holyfield of four years ago beat WBC beltholder Rahman and would have had a puncher’s chance at taking out IBF titlist Wladimir Klitschko.

It’s possible that a loss to Bates would finally send Holyfield into retirement, but what if Holyfield wins? How long must the delusion go on?

In the face of his deteriorating performance, Cal Ripken, the Iron Man of another sport, made his own decision on when to sit down and when to leave the game. After his lengthy career and exceptional accomplishments, he had earned that respect. But Ripken wasn’t taking shots to the head.

In the mind of Evander Holyfield, the only things needed are his beliefs. Let’s hope he leaves the sport while he still has access to them.

The 10 Count

1.  Did anyone catch the point during the James McGirt Jr.-Stephan Pryor fight this weekend when, in-between rounds, McGirt came out of his corner, gave a kiss to the top of father/trainer Buddy McGirt’s head and exchanged love-you’s? With all the dysfunction between fathers and sons like Roy Jones (junior and senior) and Floyd Mayweather (junior and senior), why can’t we have more occasions of mushiness?

2.  With his lackluster decision loss to heavyweight Tony Thompson, Dominick Guinn has become boxing’s version of basketball’s Kwame Brown. Guinn is a talented fighter upon whom high expectations were set, but although he is physically capable, he lacks the needed mental drive to be consistently focused.

3. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam knocked out Everardo Morales last week for the record 15th successful defense of his flyweight title. But it was Wonjongkam’s fourth defense and sixth fight since last July, when he was supposed to defend against Jorge Arce. Instead, Arce knocked out Angel Priolo that month to take the WBC’s interim title, a trinket that he has since defended four times. It’s nice to see the sanctioning body following its guidelines and forcing Wonjongkam to face Arce or else be stripped. But then again, doing so would take away the extra serving of sanctioning fees.

4.  In more sanctioning body fun, Juan Urango outpointed Naoufel Ben Rabah for the IBF junior welterweight title that had been stripped from Ricky Hatton. Urango won via a controversial decision, as Ben Rabah boxed and backpedaled all night while Urango struggled to land clean shots. Personally, I scored the fight “Zzzzzz.”

5.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: Peter McNeeley, the infamous first victim of Mike Tyson’s post-prison comeback, has been arrested and charged with allegedly driving the getaway car in a drugstore robbery, according to the Associated Press. This is a guy whose one round with Tyson had, to this point, been the longest experience of his life. What will a prison stint feel like?

6.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Andrew Golota was charged last week with 12 misdemeanor counts of possessing unregistered firearms, according to the Chicago Tribune. And to think that one past criticism of Golota was that he was occasionally gun-shy.

7.  Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Amir Khan, the 2004 Olympic lightweight silver medalist, was charged with dangerous driving last week for a March incident in which he allegedly hit a pedestrian with his car, according to reports in the British press. Khan is facing a possible jail sentence, something that would derail his young professional career and budding stardom.

8.  Manny Pacquiao’s defeat of Oscar Larios deserves an HBO broadcast, even if the network didn’t carry the initial pay-per-view due to worries over political strife in the Philippines. It’s hard to ask people to drop 40 bucks on the two minor undercard bouts and a main event that few expected to be competitive or go the distance.

9.  In preparation for Erik Morales’ November bout with the aforementioned Pacquiao, promoter Bob Arum has hired a nutritionist and a conditioning expert to prevent a repeat of June’s Jose Luis Castillo fiasco, according to scribe Dan Rafael. Hopefully this trilogy will end with a bang, slightly making up for the lack of a conclusion caused by Castillo’s inability to hit the lightweight limit.

10.  So, Samuel Peter will meet James Toney on Sep. 2 in an eliminator for the right to face the winner of Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev II. Peter weighed 256.5 pounds for his last fight, a knockout of Julius Long, while Toney rounded himself out at 237 for his draw with Rahman. My question: is there an over/under on combined weight?