By Rick Reeno
The boxing critics can't seem to keep a good man down. This Friday night, four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (39-8, 26KOs) returns to the ring in the second bout of his latest comeback. On the other end of the ring will be the very capable Fres Oquendo (23-3, 16KOs).
The venue hosting the event will be the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The arena will be set up for 28,000 seats, and Promoter Murad Muhammad of M&M Sports, expects to have over 15,000 boxing fans attending the fight. Muhammad is co-promoting the event with Holyfield's Real Deal Events. Unless you plan on flying to Texas to see the fight live, the only way to catch the bout is live on pay-per-view, presented by Fox Sports Net for $44.95.
Holyfield returned to the ring on August 18, after a two-year layoff from the ring. The bout, which took place in Dallas, Texas - saw Holyfield destroy the very incapable journeyman Jeremy Bates (21-11) in two rounds. It was Holyfield's first win since 2002, and his first win by knockout since 1997, when he stopped Michael Moorer in Las Vegas.
Loaded with money and a hefty resume, boxing fans and critics alike do not see the reasoning for Holyfield's latest comeback. Holyfield on the other hand maintains his position of returning to once again become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
"The most important is to finish my goal. I think a lot of people don't set goals for themselves. I always wanted to be the best fighter that I can be. After I lost to Riddick Bowe, I set a goal a long time ago to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I beat Bowe in the rematch, but he gave one of the belts away, and I've been chasing that one belt ever since," said Holyfield.
The return was not easy, he was criticized by fans, family and friends, but in the end he made up his mind that it was something he had to do for himself.
"I made my mind up about coming back and people made all of these excuses like 'he's too old.' I got to choose my own destination."
Former NBA superstar Tim Hardaway is a longtime Holyfield fan that is one of the die hard fans that are happy to see him back in the ring.
"I've been an Evander Holyfield fan for a long time. When he beat Riddick Bowe in the rematch, I was right there at ringside. I'm so happy that he can still come out and show the world that he can still fight. I want him to bring all of the heavyweight belts back to where they belong, to America," Hardaway said.
Beat Oquendo is not an easy task. Unlike Bates, a certified clubfighter, Oquendo is a live opponent that is more than able to beat some of the current crop of top contenders. Among his three losses to David Tua, John Ruiz and Chris Byrd, only Ruiz and Tua are regarded as legit losses.
In the bout with Tua, he was boxing Tua's ears off when left himself open in the ninth round, and allowed Tua to land a left hook that he was never able to recover from. The John Ruiz bout was boring enough that few complained over what some called an early stoppage in the eleventh round. The bout with Byrd, who the IBF heavyweight champion at the time, was called one of the worst decisions of 2003. In a fight that just about everyone, including the HBO commentators, had Oquendo winning, Byrd came out the surprising unanimous decision winner.
After the pair of back to back losses, Oquendo had a near two-year layoff, and returned to the ring in Febuary to stop Daniel Dispo. He followed up the win by scoring a unanimous decision over tough Mexican heavyweight, Javier Mora, in May.
A lot of people are picking Oquendo to box his way to victory. Now under the tutelage of hall-of-fame trainer Freddie Roach, Oquendo is beginning to learn plenty of new tricks in the ring. Holyfield knows that he is the underdog in the fight, and possibly being underestimated by Oquendo.
"Oquendo has his plan, but I do realize that I have to cut the ring off. I think he may underestimate me. A lot of people don't understand that I'm a boxer's boxer. I've been doing this for over 30 years. Look at the pay-per-view numbers, I'm involved in all of these big records, whether or not I won the fight. I hope the people can buy the show if they can't get down to San Antonio because the best is yet to come."
Holyfield knows that win over Oquendo can land him a title shot in 2007. There are four heavyweight champions that are not very popular with the public. Holyfield wants to use his star-power, and moneymaking abilities to lure the heavyweight champions. Even without a title and being 44-years-old, he is still making more money than some of the much younger heavyweight champions.
"Money is the key, quipped Holyfield. I'm making more money than these guys are and I don't even have a title. It's one thing to be heavyweight champion of the world, and it's a whole other thing to make real money when your the champion."
"When they see how much money I make, all of the heavyweight champions will want to make a fight. They will want to fight me because they will make a lot of money. They think I'm old and if they beat me, then their name will be big. But, in the end they will make a lot of money by fighting me. These fighters now are not fighting each other for a lot of money. I can give them the opportunity to make a lot of money."
"I had a great career and made a lot of money. These guys are fighting in a division where people don't even know who the champion really is, so nobody is supporting them. They have to fight somebody marquee. I happen to be in the marquee position. This is why I think that I will get the opportunity to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world."
Promoter Murad Muhammad agrees with Holyfield, and views money as the key to securing one of the heavyweight champions of a 2007 showdown.
"If they want to make the money, they have to come to Holyfield to make the money. Fighters get in this game for three things. To get belts, to make money and to make more money. George Foreman never wanted to fight Muhammad Ali, but it was for money. Tyson didn’t want to fight Razor Ruddick for the second time, but it was for money. John Ruiz did not want to fight Roy Jones, Jr. but it was money. If you ask Tyson, he didn’t want to get in the ring with Holyfield for the second time, but it was money. What we are saying is that if you want to get paid, you have to deal with the "Real Deal" Evander Holyfield. All the champions will come calling because they will make more money than they have ever made," Muhammad said.
Holyfield would not disclose which heavyweight champion he is going to target first. Some have said WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev, while others have said IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko. Holyfield says there are a lot of people in the sport that want to see him go away, and he will not let his intentions be known, or else someone may try to block his path to the title.
"There is a preference among the four, but I don’t want to mention the name because I don't want them to kind of hope that I'm going to fight them after this fight. I could beat all of them. If I had to choose, I know who I would choose first, but when you let the cat out the bag, you always have someone stepping in your way."
He was offered a spot on the Australian heavyweight tourney Superfighter, but declined as there was no title involved. While Superfighter does not interest Holyfield, putting together some exhibition bouts after he retires is not out of the question.
"The big thing with me is to become the undisputed champion of the world. I already know that I'm a tough fighter. If the tournament don’t come with a title match, then there is no reason for me to fight. One day, maybe I will go and hold an exhibition bout in Africa where they never saw me fight, or somewhere in Europe where they never saw me fight. Maybe they got a chance to lay their eyes on me, but never got the chance to see me fight live. Maybe even in China.
The overall thinking of Holyfield is to use Oquendo as a stepping stone towards a title shot, and then bringing the heavyweight division back from the dead. Should Holyfield land a title shot against one of the heavyweight champions from the former Soviet Union, the newspapers would would be all over it. In reality, the bout will probably receive more newspaper press than most of the heavyweight title fights of the last few years combined.
Holyfield's general feeling is that today's promoters are to blame for the decline of the heavyweight division, and not the fighters. He says that promoters do not know how to market their heavyweight fighters to the public, and they are also throwing fighters on pay-per-view before their names are big enough for such a stage. The end result is the boxing public getting turned off and turning away.
"They have to go back to free television and give people the opportunity to see them. Just like anything else, you have to market a fighter well. If you go to the store and they have new meat, they give you a taste of that meat for free. They get you hooked on the meat and then they charge you," Holyfield said.
"They don't give heavyweight fighters enough TV time, and then throw them on pay-per-view. People aren’t going to pay to see fighters they don't care nothing about. The only people to watch are the boxing fans that really watch boxing. They need to reach the people who don't really watch boxing, and get them to watch. I've been fortunate enough to get a lot of TV time and it built up my name."
