Evander Holyfield will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when his career in boxing is over. He will go out a multiple world champion as a Cruiserweight and Heavyweight, a bronze medal winner in the 1984 Olympics, and in his prime he fought the best in the division on huge pay-per-view cards in front of millions. He is a legend and when he retires, he will be remembered as one of the all time greats. But that’s just it… When?
When then 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins fought to a draw with Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in December, he made it very clear and obvious to anyone who watched the fight, that the old man can still Go and can still Go hard. He looked great and the majority of fans and writers felt he was robbed and deserved the win.
At 48, Holyfield is a different story. On Saturday night he fought to a “No Contest” result with Sherman Williams as it was ruled Holyfield could not continue following an accidental head-butt in the 3rd round.
When a boxer in his 40s goes out, laces up the gloves and trades shots in the ring, fan or not – they get your respect. But truth be told, Holyfield got that respect when he was beat on by James Toney in 2003 and his corner threw in the towel. The consensus around boxing was – “Great fighter, unmatched heart, Hall of Famer, A legend in the sport… But it’s time to retire. He can’t take another beating like that. He’s in his 40s and his skills have been slipping. This was it for Evander.”
He’s fought 9 times since.
When you see all-time greats and ex-fighters struggling later on in life because of the wars they were in years earlier, you just want to scream at the guy. You want to scream at the commissions that keep granting him a license to fight. You want to scream at his trainers for taking on the task, knowing he’s a shell of his former greatness. But in the end, who the hell am I to say when it’s his time to stop?
The view from the outside is always that – a view from the outside. We deal with these situations every day. How many times have you hammered a friend for choices in their love life? You tell them a list of reasons why they should leave their partner and are incensed when they don’t or when they do but go back… “How can you be with someone who does that to you?!”
We’ve all done it and will continue to. But most if not all of us have also been on the inside and have discarded similar comments and thoughts from others when it’s our decisions being questioned. The reason?
Love is blinding. When your heart leads your mind into a vulnerable world, your eyes cloud your judgment. What you want to see replaces what’s really there and your threshold for heartache and mental anguish reaches its peak. It’s just a side effect to an otherwise wonderful and amazing emotion. For Holyfield, that love, of course, is for boxing, and for being a champion.
Sometimes reality needs to hit you before you realize what it is. Sometimes you need to get knocked on your ass so that you can recognize the pain you’re enduring. The problem for Evander Holyfield is that his love is for something which not only has caused him emotional and mental blindness, but also has taken an unforgiving toll on his body.
For Holyfield, it shouldn’t come to the literal and metaphorical punch of reality he will need to take to make him finally step away, but it will. And it might be his last.
