Evander Heads for 1 of 2 Part 3's
LAS VEGAS
If there is such a thing as a squeaker in boxing, Evander Holyfield got one on Saturday night against John Ruiz as he scored a one-point victory on two cards to win a unanimous decision and the vacant WBA heavyweight title.
Judges Duane Ford and Dave Moretti had it a draw (104-104) heading into the final round. The judge from Venezuela, Fernando Viso, saw it pretty much the way I did, scoring it 116-112 for Holyfield. I scored it 116-111, giving
Holyfield a two-point round in the third when he nearly knocked out Ruiz. The only thing keeping Ruiz off the canvas was his crazy-glue grip on Holyfield's upper body.
Of course after the fight, Ruiz and his camp screamed the two most frequently used words in the boxing lexicon - "Robbery and Rematch." I don't know about the robbery, but when it comes to a rematch, Holyfield should take a page from Nancy Reagan's notebook and "Just Say No!" How appropriate that he dedicated the fight to the DARE program for kids.
Ruiz (36-5, 27 KOs) fought a good fight. He made us all forget that 19-second KO by David Tua five years ago. But when he looks back and realizes that if he had stayed busy in the 12th round he would have won, he's going to punch himself in the mouth. But this wasn't ever really about Ruiz. It was Holyfield's show all the way. His chance for immortality.
Like he said, it's going to take someone else 20 years to win the heavyweight title four separate times. He's in the book, asterisk or not.
This fight showed that the 37-year-old Holyfield is slipping, his skills slowly eroding. He had no rhythm. His punches weren't sharp. In his younger, better days Holyfield (37-4-1, 25 KOs) would have dispatched Ruiz in the third round. Instead he talked about Ruiz's style and how styles make fights and yada, yada, yada.
"He's awkward," Holyfield said. "He didn't fight the way that I wanted him to fight and he was supposed to. It was aggravating. When I wanted to hit him with the jab, he was coming in too low. When I wanted to throw a combination he was in too close."
Mike Tyson came in low with his head and Holyfield knocked him out in the 11th round. That was three years ago.
Different Holyfield.
Two things about the fight: Holyfield is an old fighter, but half the young men in the division can't beat him.
So the status quo has been restored in the heavyweight division and we're right back where we started a couple of years ago with Holyfield in pursuit of the undisputed title. The only difference is that Holyfield has one title now and Lennox Lewis has two. So, now we're faced with the prospects of Holyfield and Lewis saying, "Let's play three."
But hope is not lost. There are some new players on the heavyweight board and the chess game is about to begin and there will be a whole lotta shiftin' goin' on.
Showtime and HBO have been involved in their own little chess game for the past six months, as Showtime has signed a load of talent to its network, particularly some intriguing heavyweights. They now have contracts and relationships with Holyfield, Tyson, Andrew Golota and David Tua. HBO has Lewis.
Tua and Lewis will meet on Nov. 11, probably on HBO. If Tua wins that fight, then Showtime will have the heavyweights with the three major heavyweight title belts. Then all of a sudden, Showtime, the network of misfit heavyweights, will control the division and thus control the most compelling heavyweight matches. If you're HBO, you're not crying uncle, but that kind of punch tends to leave a mark.
The other intrigue involves who now becomes the mandatory challenger for Holyfield's WBA title. It is supposed to be Vladimir Klitschko. However, Klitschko, upon the advice of his German representatives, has signed to fight Chris Byrd for the WBO heavyweight title. How do you say "Big Dummy" in German?
Going down the list, next in line would be Oleg Maskaev, the former Russian military officer who keeps pushing through opponents like a Siberian blizzard. However, Maskaev has a fight in South African next month and an HBO "Boxing After Dark" fight on Oct. 7 against Kirk Jefferson. But I've got to believe that Maskeav's massive promoter, Cedric Kushner, who is as big (literally) as Siegfried and Roy combined, can make those dates disappear if Holyfield and the WBA title is within reach.
Holyfield-Maskeav. I like that. If that doesn't happen, then we're faced with the prospects of Holyfield-Larry Donald. That could be Holyfield-Ruiz without Ruiz.
But all that shifting and shaking takes us back in a circle. We wind up back where we started, especially with Holyfield in the mix. We're going to get a III. It's either Lewis or Tyson.
"Holyfield-Lewis. At this point it's all speculative," said Jay Larkin, senior producer at Showtime. "The big question is whether anyone wants to see Holyfield-Lewis III."
Original Publication Date: 8/14/00 |
