By Dave Wilcox
After Lamon Brewster defeated Kali Meehan Saturday night in Las Vegas, it was announced that Brewster would next put his “championship” on the line vs. All-Time great former champ, Evander Holyfield. Before I go on my rant, let me say that I’m a big fan of Holyfield. I’ve enjoyed his fights and respected the heart that he has always shown throughout his long career. During his career, he has defeated great fighters like Tyson, Bowe, Foreman and Ruiz. ( I’m just kidding about Ruiz, making sure your paying attention) He is and always will be a credit to the sport of Boxing. Having said that, I think Holyfield fighting Brewster is a bad idea. I know the division is weak. I know that Holyfield might be able to win against the paper champ Brewster. That’s what worries me. Let’s say Holyfield is able to win, then what?
I’ll tell you what will happen, he will continue to fight and most likely subject us fans to more painful nights of watching him take a beating and possibly sustain serious injury. I, for one, don’t want to see it happen. Holyfield has looked horrible over the past five years or so. Ruiz made him look foolish, Byrd boxed circles around him and blown up fat man, James Toney knocked him out. That’s not exactly what I look for in a Championship contender. I like Holyfield too much and want to remember him as the great champion he was. I don’t want my heroes to fight Leon Spinks who has only had seven pro fights. I don’t want to see them get knocked out by Hector Camacho and I certainly don’t want to watch them come out of retirement to see Marciano knock them through the ropes.
Holyfield has nothing to prove and can’t fight at a championship level anymore. God can’t heal him of this problem. I wish he would just retire and save us the pain. More importantly, save him from the embarrassment of what will inevitably happen. Too many times in sports we see our heroes go on too long and they become shells of their former selves. I would much rather see Jim Brown retire on top, or Barry Sanders do the same instead of seeing Ali fight Trevor Berbick or Babe Ruth playing for the Boston Braves.
If the Brewster-Holyfield fight happens, I don’t think I’ll watch. I’ll choose to remember the great Evander Holyfield as he was. If we’re lucky, Brewster will leave the Vasoline at home and take it easy on the old man. I know Brewster isn’t exactly Joe Louis, but neither is Danny Williams and he managed to knock out another former great champ. Maybe Evander will get smart and spend some time with his 15 kids and four wives while he can. If he continues to fight, he might not be able to in the future. That’s kind of hard to do from a hospital bed. Take your millions and stay home Evander! Open up a church or something…anything but continuing to fight. Your legacy is secure, but your health is not. At the end of an article, I sometimes will close with “keep punching”, in this case…….stop punching Evander.
