Will Holyfield Retire If He Loses To Valuev?

By Boxing News - 12/17/2008 - Comments

holyinterviewBy William Mackay: Evander Holyfield (42-9-2, 27 KOs) doesn’t know the word quit, but after Saturday night, he might want to add it to his vocabulary, because in facing seven foot Nikolay Valuev (49-1, 34 KOs), he’ll be at a tremendous disadvantage and will almost surely lose the fight. For those who are keeping score, this will be Holyfield’s fifth heavyweight title, if he should win the fight, a number that would further enhance his status among boxing fans.

However, the likelihood that he’ll beating Valuev is slim and none. Most experts see Holyfield losing by a one-sided decision, but there are few – very few – who think that he can somehow get lucky and score a knockout victory over Valuev.

No doubt, he has the power to take Valuev out if he can reach that high to hit him in the jaw. Trying to land will be the hard part, though, because Holyfield will be giving up seven inches in reach, close to a foot in height and over 100 pounds in weight. Just getting to Valuev will be half the battle for Holyfield. He’s going to have to go back in time to 1993 when Holyfield was able to beat the 6’5″ Riddick Bowe, using a quick in and out attack.

It worked on that night, but it was far from an easy victory for Holyfield, as he was hit often by the much larger Bowe. This will probably be Holyfield’s plan on defeating Valuev on Saturday, but it’s doubtful that Holyfield can still fight at that pace anymore. In the past decade, he’s slowed down a great deal, and though he doesn’t look 46, his moments suggest a fighter of that age.

So, we can pretty much remove the idea of Holyfield giving Valuev problems with his movement, because that’s not likely to happen. Instead, if Holyfield is going to have to try and move just enough to keep Valuev from connecting with his big, clubbing shots.

Not that Holyfield would have any problems handling Valuev’s power shots, but getting hit a lot would only earn Holyfield yet another loss, and not give him the World Boxing Association title that he’s looking to get.
Ranked number #12 in the WBA, another loss, which would be Holyfield’s second in a row, would likely drop him out of the top 15 altogether.

He would then be looking at fighting two to three more low quality fighters to get back in top tier, yet even then who’s going to give him another shot? If it takes Holyfield another year to get back into the top 15, he’ll be 47, an almost unspeakable age for a top 15 heavyweight.

I can’t imagine one of the champions wanting to give him another shot at that point, especially given his lack of success. My hope is that it doesn’t get to that, because with a loss to Valuev, Holyfield should finally come to some kind of realization that he doesn’t have the skills needed to capture another title and that he’s just wasting his time.

For him, this title shot, win or lose, would still be a nice little payday that Holyfield can end his career on. To go beyond that, however, would seem to be nothing but waste of Holyfield’s time and energy. It isn’t the end of the line if he retires. With his vast experience, he can maybe move into broadcasting or possibly training fighters.



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