Would a Holyfield "revival" be good for boxing?

[Kid Achilles]

Let's face it, Holyfield is pretty far gone. Is he completely shot? Sometimes I think so, but people have been saying that since before the first Tyson fight. Let's assume Holyfield gets passed Oquendo and lands a title shot with Briggs (the only belt holder he has a chance with IMO). I would give Holyfield a very good chance against Briggs as I think he would bring the pressure in a way that Sergei didn't and really take advantage of Shannon's godawful conditioning with his relatively quick hands, consistent power, and boxing skill. He's also a durable guy with character and heart. He will not be afraid of Briggs one bit.

Okay so let's say he beats Briggs, not a very far out suggestion. Is this good for boxing? On one hand Holyfield is a big name but on the other he is so old and worn that it will prove once and for all how terrible the division really is.

[K-DOGG]

No. It would not be good for boxing. Can he beat Briggs? Yes; and for the very reasons you outlined. This is a sad case of a man who can't let it go and move on facing a classic underachiever, who, save the first 30 seconds of his recent "title"-shot and the last, choked as usual and put on a dismal display last weekend.

Badblood asked me on another thread whether or not I felt if it would be good for Holyfield to face Briggs on the premise that Briggs could knock him out so severely that Holyfield would finally retire. I have now come to the sad conclusion that Evander wants to die in the ring; and that it will take either that, or a serious injury, such as the one suffered by Gerald McClellan to finally bring the curtain down on the final pathetic chapter to an otherwise glorious career.

I loathe the idea of any fighter being injured in the ring; but part of me is now thinking that it would serve him right. There has never been a fighter with more heart than Evander Holyfield and he has achieved more than most of us will ever chance to touch; but still he fights on. And maybe I'm mad because he is disgracing himself before our very eyes. I really don't know why I feel the way I do; but suspect it's merely disgust at this man's self-serving arrogance, so much that he is willing to fight on until he is permanently injured, and thus bring a cloud upon the very sport that has been so good to him. I am disgusted with the fact that this man, who has achieved so much, who has stored away so many millions, is too greedy for glory and fame to be satisfied with what he has accomplished and will not, like so many before him, go queitly into that night.

Some would praise him and point to George Foreman and call me a hypocrit for critisizing one man for doing the same thing I praised another for....and that's fine, if you feel that way. Here's the way I see it, though. I watched George chase his demons and never feared for his health. I admired him for trying to put some closure to that nasty unfinished business of his first career; and I rejoiced with him when he achieved the impossible. Maybe it was the nostalgia of seeing this titan of the Golden Age of boxing defy all odds and do it again. Holyfield, on the other hand, has upset Bowe in the rematch, upest Tyson when all thought he was shot, and given us countless thrills with his display of bravado, earned accolade upon accolade, and yet he wants more.

Does he wish to be remembered as the greatest of all time? Does he seiously think, at this stage of his career, that he could possibly do enough to warrant such a recognition?

I am reminded of the Greek story of Icarus, the boy who, along with his father, flew to freedom with wings constructed of wood, feathers, and wax; but, unlike his father, Icarus wanted to soar as high as he could and flew to close to the sun. The heat of the sun, of course, melted the wax that held his wings together, and he fell to his death.

Is this Evander Holyfield's fate; to be boxing's modern-day Icarus? I fear it must be.