Holyfield planning to fight in October, this must be stopped!

[EastCoastBoxing]

That would be a great fight for Harrison he would probably TKO Holyfield and get a title shot I mean everyone who beats Tyson or Holyfield still gets their name out there. Why I don't know but they do.

This is what is wrong with boxing! Using the name of a great fighter to boost a young fighters record. When Holyfield is damaged beyond repair there will still be promoters who will put him in the ring and they should be held criminally responsible!

[RAESAAD]

This is what is wrong with boxing! Using the name of a great fighter to boost a young fighters record. When Holyfield is damaged beyond repair there will still be promoters who will put him in the ring and they should be held criminally responsible!

I don't know about criminally responsible but I know what you mean.

[MetalVomit]

this is sad, Evander was my hero when I was little.

[TKODoll]

Holyfield has had his medical suspension by the NY State Commission lifted. He is suspended administratively now by NY. He can still fight in any other state, since they don't have to go along with NY's administrative suspension. Let me quote an article here that is very appropriate.

HOLYFIELD FINALLY WINS A FIGHT;
GOOD FOR HIM

By William Dettloff

I’m not usually a the-cup-is-half-full kind of guy, but I saw the recent lifting of Evander Holyfield’s medical suspension by Ron Stevens’ New York Commission as a victory for Holyfield. Though he remains barred from fighting in New York—big deal—other states are under no obligation to honor New York’s mandate. So Holyfield can fight in whatever jurisdiction he pleases, so long as he passes the medicals beforehand. I say good for him.

I’ve heard all the arguments in favor of banning Holyfield from fighting again: “We have a duty to protect him from himself.” “A boxing license is a privilege, not a right.” “It’s for the good of the sport.” It’s hogwash. All of it. And it’s unfair.

No one’s saying Holyfield is a top prizefighter anymore. Maybe he isn’t even a very good one. If you want proof, look at a tape of his loss to Larry Donald, who would have been hard-pressed to give him three competitive rounds even five or six years ago. But since when is not doing your job as well as you used to grounds for barring you from doing it? This “poor performance” and “diminished skills” argument from Stevens is full of holes and very close to indefensible.

There are guys out there who won their first 10 fights in a row and then lost their next 60 and are still fighting. Nobody asks questions. You want a classic case of “diminished skills”? Try Mike Tyson. He’s lost three of his last four fights, all by knockout, two of them to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, a pair of journeymen. If he decides against careers in **** or missionary work—we forget which it is this week—and decides to fight again, do you think he’ll be prevented from doing so because of his obviously diminished skills? Of course he won’t.

Meanwhile, Holyfield’s recent losses, aside from the one to Donald, have come against Lennox Lewis, who was the heavyweight champion at the time; Chris Byrd, The Ring ’s current top contender; John Ruiz, the number-two contender; and James Toney, who comes in at number four. And he holds a June 2002 win over our number-three guy, Hasim Rahman, who will meet Vitali Klitschko for the title in November. Hello?

Just about every champion in the history of modern prizefighting has fought well beyond the point of diminishing skills. Pick any great champion—Louis, Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Robinson, Armstrong, Leonard (both Benny and Ray), Pep, Duran. The list goes on and on. It’s a cliche already. Is Holyfield so much farther gone than they were that he should be banned? With all the problems this sport has, this is the issue commissions get all excited about? There’s nothing else to do?

It’s clear that Holyfield is being singled out. Why? It’s simple: People love the guy. And they should. The way to show that is to honor his sense of pride and to let him be a man. They don’t want him to end up like all those other champions who had retirement beaten into them and suffered later because of it. But Holyfield is a man before he is fighter and he’ll be a man after he’s done too. The way to honor him is to treat him like one.

Life is full of painful consequences, which, given the choice, we’d rather not face. But taking away a man’s freedom to make choices about how he lives his life because we find the potential consequences distasteful is selfish and unfair. For all he’s given us, Holyfield deserves better.

Bill Dettloff’s book, Box Like The Pros, written with former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, will be published by HarperCollins in November. Bill can be contacted at dettloff@ptd.net

No one has the right to keep Evander Holyfield from boxing.

[TheEvilSaint]

If Evander Holyfield wants to fight nobody should have the right to stop him. I am not a believer in the whole "protect you from yourself mentality." He has been a pro boxer for near 20 years now. He knows his abilities. They let tons of other boxers fight into their f***Ing 60's. Holyfield is getting the slighted by the State Athletic Boards in my opinion.

the fighters they let fight into their 60's are nowhere near as loved and admired and praised as evander holyfield. and evander has be pathetic in his past 7 fights.

i love evander holyfield, but i believe he should never fight again.

[trinidadpr87]

He's a grown man it's his decision not anybody elses.

[SonnyG8R]

I'd love to see Evander hang up the gloves. I wish he would have done so a few years ago. But the man has the right to fight and make another payday if he wants.

It's sad though.

[Zeroflip1]

What they should do, is just say **** it, holyfield wants a fight? GIve him a fight.

give him a fight against someone who would **** him up. throw him in with Vitali or even better bring Lewis out of retirement, offer him a ****load of money to KTFO of evander.

That way evander will get so ****ed up, he will finally see that he has no chance and just ****ing retire.

The man has a deathwish and the only way to stop him is to beat it out of him.

[kmac]

I think it is almost impossible to stop him from fighting. Every country that bans him, there will still be another place who is looking for a name

[BAREKNUCKLES]

I think the real problem with Holyfield, and the way people view him is thE manner in which he speaks.

He speaks with a very thick, southern accent. It's not brain damage, he has always spoke in that manner.

Watch some footage of him speaking when he was 29 years old, he sounds the same today.

I think alot of guys are mistaking that as brain damage. If he wishes to keep fighting, it's his business. He's probably better than most fighters out there even at his advanced age. He's always in shape, and he seems able to compete at some level

I think Evander will probably still have a good day now and then.

He beat the crap out of Rahman. I think he could still do that now and then.

Speedy fighters will give him alot of trouble because his reaction time is very slow now. He is a strong, fundamentally sound, slow old fighter. He'll be beaten by most any good, young prospect.

This is the land of the free. Ahh yes, the pursuit of happiness. LET THE MAN FIGHT!!!!!