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By Mitch Abramson - He is Captain Ahab in boxing shorts, out to sea, dedicating his life to the pursuit of the heavyweight championship, even if it destroys him.
“Time is still on my side,” Evander Holyfield said in a phone interview, fresh off a plane from Houston, where he is training with Ronnie Shields. “I get better with age,” he said, chuckling.
He still wants to become undisputed heavyweight champion, even at age 44 (soon to be 45 October 19), when most men abandon their athletic dreams to focus on less exciting pursuits.
He is no Barry Bonds, who somehow got better (and bigger) with age.
It’s hard to imagine the still fascinating Holyfield in another career, but he says that early on, he wanted to play football, cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons.
He pauses to consider the idea: Holyfield back-pedaling to catch up to a fleet-footed receiver. He abandoned that thought when his high school coach didn’t play him all season then inserted him for the championship game, only to tell him afterward that he made a mistake letting him rot on the bench. Holyfield wept, upset that someone else could determine what he could and could not do, he first told USA Today in June.
Instead, he chose boxing, a love affair that has proven more resilient than most marriages.
“It’s what I do best,” he says.
He will fight Sultan Ibragimov (21-0-1, 17 knockouts) on October 13 in Moscow for the WBO title, conveniently filling in for the WBA champion, Ruslan Chagaev, who pulled out with an illness. Holyfield, who still conjures up images of the “baddest man on the planet,” with his sideways sneer and ripped physique, if not actions, is seeking his fifth heavyweight title. [details]
“Time is still on my side,” Evander Holyfield said in a phone interview, fresh off a plane from Houston, where he is training with Ronnie Shields. “I get better with age,” he said, chuckling.
He still wants to become undisputed heavyweight champion, even at age 44 (soon to be 45 October 19), when most men abandon their athletic dreams to focus on less exciting pursuits.
He is no Barry Bonds, who somehow got better (and bigger) with age.
It’s hard to imagine the still fascinating Holyfield in another career, but he says that early on, he wanted to play football, cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons.
He pauses to consider the idea: Holyfield back-pedaling to catch up to a fleet-footed receiver. He abandoned that thought when his high school coach didn’t play him all season then inserted him for the championship game, only to tell him afterward that he made a mistake letting him rot on the bench. Holyfield wept, upset that someone else could determine what he could and could not do, he first told USA Today in June.
Instead, he chose boxing, a love affair that has proven more resilient than most marriages.
“It’s what I do best,” he says.
He will fight Sultan Ibragimov (21-0-1, 17 knockouts) on October 13 in Moscow for the WBO title, conveniently filling in for the WBA champion, Ruslan Chagaev, who pulled out with an illness. Holyfield, who still conjures up images of the “baddest man on the planet,” with his sideways sneer and ripped physique, if not actions, is seeking his fifth heavyweight title. [details]