By William Mackay: Former two division champion Evander Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KO’s) says he wants a fight with World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) in the near future. Holyfield, 47, has a fight with Sherman Williams (34-11-2, 19 KO’s) on November 5th at the Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit, Michigan. However, after that Holyfield would like to challenge for the title against the 29-year-old Haye. Holyfield says “I want to meet the people with the titles,” in an article at the Mirror.co.uk. “I am fighting this Williams guy because I need to stay active. I can’t wait to get the guys with these three belts [Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and Haye]. Whenever they are ready…The only thing that attracts them is that if they want a big pay day, they have to fight somebody that the people know. I’m the most popular heavyweight still fighting. If they felt I was an easy fight, they would go ahead with it. They don’t want to be duked by the old man.”
I think it might more of a case of not wanting to be seen beating up on an old man rather than possibly losing to an old man. However, I can see Holyfield as a potential future opponent for Haye. He’s already fought 38-year-old Monte Barrett, 36-year-old Nikolay Valuev and 38-year-old John Ruiz since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2008. In November, Haye will be fighting 39-year-old Audley Harrison.
So, a fight with 48-year-old Holyfield would fit in quite nicely with that bunch of fighters, don’t you think? The British public would probably eat up Holfyield-Haye. I think it would do even better than Haye vs. Harrison. Of course, it wouldn’t be a legacy building fight but it would give Haye the opportunity to hold onto his title for a little longer and milk it before retiring at 31 like he’s said that he wants to do. I think Haye could beat Holyfield, as long as he didn’t get hit on the chin by him. This is a winnable fight for Haye and a good fight to take after the Harrison bout. In the last three years, Holyfield has challenged for the heavyweight title on two occasions, losing both of them to Sultan Ibragimov and Valuev.
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