By Eric Thomas: Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KO’s) turns 50 on Friday and he’s decided he won’t be retiring after all. Holyfield had mentioned earlier in the week that he might be retiring on Friday. Earlier today, Holyfield decided he won’t be retiring and is sticking with his belief that he thinks he can beat Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.
Holyfield told Sportsonearth.com “This morning when I woke up, I thought it [retirement] some more. Now I’m not going to retire. One can change his mind, can’t he? Boxing is what I do best. It’s what I know. I can beat them [the Klitschkos].”
Maybe Holyfield might have thought about how much money he would make outside the ring in a 9 to 5 job, and without an education, Holyfield might have difficulties getting a job that would pay more than he could make in boxing, even in this late stage in his career. An active Holyfield can probably make a decent amount of money compared to most people who work 9 to 5. The difference here is how much debt Holyfield is carrying due to his numerous children that he has to pay child support on. Still, I guess you can’t blame Holyfield for wanting to stick to a job that would pay him more money than he’d make in an outside the ring job.
An ideal situation for Holyfield would be if one of the networks like HBO, Showtime or ESPN would offer him a good paying broadcasting job or some other kind of job. That would be a great way for Holyfield to step away from the game. However, if they had offered Holyfield a job he’d have likely already been gone from boxing, apart from an occasional fight.
At some point, Holyfield is going to have to retire from the sport. He’s turning 50 tomorrow, and there’s not too many fighters in their 50s still fighting. If he starts taking loss after loss, it cause him to eventually retire.
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