By Derek Holian: The American author Carlos Castaneda once said “To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on until the very last moment of our lives”. To put it simply, being a warrior for some is a way of life.
These words echoed in my mind while watching a recent interview where Evander stated ‘YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE’. Evander clearly is a ring warrior, whom, over a 26 year professional career, on his way to becoming the only 4 time heavyweight champ in history has fought a virtual Who’s Who of both the heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions, from Dwight Muhammad Qawi, to James ‘Buster’ Douglas, to George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, and Lennox Lewis.
Tomorrow night Evander will enter the professional ring for the 56th time. This time against Sherman ‘The Tank’ Williams. Williams, a sparring partner of Wladimir Klitchko for the past two years, has recently been on a hot streak. He has won 9 of his last 10 fights,(albeit againt a lower quality opposition) ,and in his 47 fight career Williams has never been stopped or even dropped. His best achievements to date include defeating former world cruiserweight champion Al ‘Ice’ Cole, fighting 3 time world title challenger Jameel McCline to a draw, and extending former world heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev the full distance.
Recently Williams warned “I’m motivated to whip Holyfield and he has a well deserved proper beating coming. I plan on going to war with him”. To which Evander simply replied “You know I’m a winner and I come to win”.
So what can we expect from tomorrow nights fight? Well, while there is a chance that at 48 Evander may hit a wall, I seriously doubt that he will. However I do expect a decent fight, with some action packed moments between the boxing great and a determined rugged Williams, but Evander still has superior movement and throws faster straighter punches, and this should see him get the better of most of there exchanges, and bring him to a unanimous pts decision against Williams, (if Evander can force a late stoppage it would actually be a very decent result) .
Putting it simply, Evander who’s boxing robe and shorts are often inscribed with “Philippians. 4:13,” : “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” will do it the only way he knows how, THE WARRIORS WAY ..
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