Las Vegas, Oct 07: Evander Holyfield had just taken a beating from James Toney, and now he was fighting another losing battle.
Sitting in a post-fight news conference, he was trying to explain why he should keep fighting at his advanced age with clearly declining skills.
The problem was that every time Holyfield opened his mouth he gave another argument for retirement.
"If he (Toney) was a big puncher I'd have been torn apart," Holyfield admitted at one point. To Holyfield's credit, he offered no excuses - and no protests - after his corner threw in the towel in the ninth round Saturday night when Toney was hitting him with every punch he threw. That wasn't the case in many of his recent fights when he blamed various injuries and opponents who weren't willing to mix it up with him for his poor showings.
But once again he blindly refused to acknowledge that, two weeks shy of his 41st birthday, he has neither the reflexes or the skills to continue as a heavyweight contender.



"No, I'm not going to retire," Holyfield said. "I'm going back to the drawing board."



Holyfield will have to find a fountain of youth on that board if he expects to ever be competitive again in the heavyweight division.



Just having his warrior will isn't good enough anymore, as Holyfield found out when he fought bravely but futilely against Toney.


Bureau Report