Friday, October 10, 2008

Holyfield gets another title shot, please

Wow, if reports are true that 45-year-old former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield has been offered a title shot against Nikolai Valuev, then that's a sad commentary on boxing and especially the heavyweight division.

Holyfield lost last year to Sultan Ibragimov and hasn't been a force in the division in years. Valuev is nothing more than a paper champion and he's not much of a champion at all.

Holyfield is a great fighter, well was a great fighter and I respect him a great deal for what he's done in his brilliant career. He's beaten Mike Tyson, Bustern Douglas, Carlos De Leon, Dwight Qawi, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer and Michael Moorer.

But he's had his moments and he's been at the top. Now, he's being recycled. It's sad really. He should be enjoying retirment and doing some commentary. Evander Holyfield isn't near the fighter he used to be and it's sad he's even being mentioned for a heavyweight title.

But it wouldn't surprise me if he beat Valuev, who is awful.

The problem with the heavyweight division is that there are so many bad fighters that challengers for the title get recycled. John Ruiz is an example. His name pops up for title shots and it's embarassing because he isn't world champion quality.

Well, such is the state of the heavyweight divison. Forty-six year old former champions with little left get title shots once again.

Let's hope Evander Holyfield is remembered for his greatness in the 1980s and for much of the 1990s and for what he has failed to accomplish in recent years.

Felix

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