By Troy Ondrizek
Photo © Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com
A lot has been put into the idea that IF Evander Holyfield defeats Sultan Ibragimov this coming Saturday that he will be the first man to capture the title five different times.
There are several variables to that statement that can keep “The Real Deal” from achieving this lofty goal. One being the man staring him down Saturday night; Sultan Ibragimov might be an anonymous figure to Tony Kornheiser but Holyfield will definitely be very well acquainted with this shifty counter-punching southpaw. The other variable is in regards to the validity of Holyfield’s claim to being the heavyweight champion should he get by Ibragimov. Basically I’m saying he won’t, it has been well chronicled how the heavyweight division is fractured. However, should he succeed he has the best chance of drawing the titles together.
Holyfield is truly a reality TV show upon himself; it seems that controversy always surrounds him in one way or another and yet he still garners our admiration and respect. In the 84’ Olympics, Holyfield leveled his semifinal opponent who was subsequently counted out, then the Yugoslavian referee disqualified Evander for hitting his opponent while down. So Holyfield lost the bout and because his opponent was KO’d, he wasn’t medically eligible to fight in the gold medal match so the walk-over winner for the gold was Anton Josipovic, hmm sounds Yugoslavian to me.
After that debacle Evander the Commander went on to conquer the infantile cruiserweight division that peaked with his epic battle with Dwight Muhammad Qawi and ended with being the first man to unify the division. Now Qawi has claimed for some time that Holyfield cheated and took some form of performance enhancing drug during the bout, a hunch that Qawi felt was validated with the recent steroid allegations placed on Holyfield.
Once among the heavyweight ranks it didn’t take long for Holyfield to deliver us some amazing performances of attrition and skill, the man just plain gave us our money’s worth. Then came Holyfield’s epic trilogy with Riddick Bowe. The best trilogy of the heavyweight division since two guys named Ali and Frazier. Controversy hadn’t forgotten about Holyfield during this time and he sent in the “Fan Man” in the second bout that caused a delay that turned the tide and Holyfield came out strong and took the fight. Then leading up to the third bout Holyfield had heart issues and retirement was a strong possibility. He looked fatigued but managed to floor Bowe before “Big Daddy” came back and laid down the law.
Shortly after, Holyfield finally met Mike Tyson in the ring, a man he was chasing for some time only to have James “Buster” Douglas and the judicial system keep them apart. Evander pulled the supposed monumental upset the first time they met and then infamously had a portion of his head bitten off by Tyson the second fight. It took only 18 months for controversy to visit Holyfield again when he stepped in with Lennox Lewis. The fight was declared a draw, but a majority of people (basically everyone except Eugenia Williams and Larry O’Connell) thought Lewis won the fight. In the follow-up bout Holyfield had better success in the ring, but Lewis was given the fight presumably based on the previous robbery.
The next three bouts resulted in possibly the worst heavyweight trilogy ever, the hug-a-thons with John Ruiz reminded us more of a self help group than a boxing match. And at what seemed a last effort at the absurd before Holyfield would retire he battered Hasim Rahman with his head and gave him a hematoma that resembled the old Mike’s Hard Lemonade commercials, it made us laugh and cringe at Rahman’s expense, again.
A couple of lopsided losses later we thought we saw the last of Evander, and we were fine with that, so many great battles, so many stories to share about him and his career. The man that might have not been the best heavyweight of his era but was at least in the top three and had fought all the top heavyweights he could’ve finally could retire to Canastota and let us talk about his greatness. No, that wasn’t Holyfield’s agenda, in what at first seemed to be an ill-fated comeback; one in which a good friend of mine and longtime Holyfield supporter cried at the news. I didn’t cry but my name isn’t Bizzack either, I did however cringe and sigh and hoped that Holyfield wouldn’t get hurt. But due to some great maneuvering, a solid name in the game, and some wins we find Evander back in the title mix.
If he does pull it off and beats Ibragimov I’ll be impressed. Sultan is no joke and he is looking to take out his second 90’s heavyweight in a row. Ibragimov isn’t the big name, well he is phonetically, but in the sports world he isn’t a hot commodity. Thus Holyfield will need this victory and another over Klitschko to make this a real title reign and to truly gain his illustrious fifth title.
I personally don’t think he can do it, and that’s not a shot against Evander. It’s just he is past his prime and the team of Jeff Mayweather and “Chill” Wilson are brilliant strategic trainers, and I fully expect Sultan to dissect a come-forward Holyfield. I do appreciate though that Holyfield got to this point, because should he win, unification will be easier and more people will watch the heavyweights. Should he lose, Ibragimov will at least have beaten two name opponents in a row in Briggs and Holyfield and his name will be more recognizable; at least more recognizable than the man he would probably unify against and that is Ruslan Chagaev.
I hate to admit it, but the heavyweight division needed Evander to come back, and I hope it turns out well for him and quite frankly, I’m ready for another battle from the great commander.
