adminATLANTA. — Last time you read about Evander Holyfield, chances are he seemed in a bad way. Maybe he was still dreaming of one last shot (he’ll probably never stop). Maybe he was selling his 109-room mansion, all those hard-earned belts and his bloodied boxing gloves and robes.
Well, we’re pleased to relay that “The Real Deal” has some new deals in the offing, which might pay dividends. And he seems happy again.
Holyfield, boxing’s only four-time world heavyweight champion, formally announced his retirement from the ring last year, at the age of 51.
The $230m he earned over a 26-year career was gone, as were three wives.
But 11 kids remained, by six different women. They’ve cost him his fortune, but they also point the way to a brighter future.
One son, Elijah, is one of the best high school running backs in American football, about to make the transition to college football. Another, Evan, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and make his name in the ring. Although, for the old man, hope is not enough.
At Evan’s gym in Atlanta, Holyfield (Snr) tells it like his momma told it, all those years ago. “My momma said ‘no excuses — you determine your own destiny, by what you choose to believe and what you choose to say.’”
So when Evan suggests that “maybe” he wants to go to the Olympics, “just like Dad did”, 31 years ago, Holyfield (Snr) gets preaching.
“People who suggest things might happen don’t become champions,” he says, as Evan twists with embarrassment.
“People who become champions are the ones who say ‘This is what I’m gonna do.’” Asked how many times he’s had this lecture, Evan says: “A lot.”
Holyfield (Snr) grew up poor in the Atlanta suburb of Sugar Hill but his momma, Annie, showered him with wisdom. “She had sixth-grade education but that was good enough for me,” says Holyfield, who was the youngest of nine children.
“I didn’t have a father but I had the right momma. She could have quit at any time – but she was the real ‘Real Deal’. She used to say ‘Son, don’t be a coward – a coward dies a thousand times but a man dies once.’
“I grew up in a black neighbourhood and my brothers always told me ‘White boys can’t fight’. Then, one day, I had to fight a white kid called Cecil Collins. When I hit him, he hit me back. And when they announced Cecil as the winner, I cried, ran home to my momma and told her I quit.” — BBC Sport.
Online Reporter