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Monday, December 15, 2008

Holyfield-Valuev: Another Apollo Creed Mishap in the Making?

One of my favorite boxing figures is Apollo Creed. Fictional? True. Inspiring? Totally. Stupid? Definitely.

But I never dreamed that I would see a real-life Apollo Creed in the person of Evander Holyfield. Much akin to the unreal bout between Apollo and the giant boxer from Russia in the cult movie Rocky III, Holyfield will soon find himself face to face against Nikolai Valuev, the tallest and heaviest heavyweight boxer in history. And like that behemoth in the said movie, Valuev’s from Russia too.

No one can be blamed if they call the 46-year old Holyfield crazy, demented, and delusional, even with a 42-9-2 boxing career that produced world championships and series of great fights. I do. And it’s no disrespect to Holyfield, whose legendary fights I have witnessed when I was still a boy. I still remember vividly how Mike Tyson chomped a bit of his ear during their second fight.

But like legends, Holyfield is supposed to fade away. He should fade away. But for whatever reasons, we will see him fight again. Against a physically superior opponent at that. How can someone expect Holyfield to win when Like Apollo Creed, he is old and obviously over the hill? When the last match he won was over a year ago?

My prediction? Expect Holyfield to be dismantled and manhandled by his Russian opponent.

But even against odds, I hope for a Holyfield victory. Perhaps, this second match between Apollo and that tall Russian guy would end up with Apollo as the victor. Win or lose, Holyfield must retire. Otherwise, someone better put a tranq dart on that former champion and send him to a psych house for a dose of reality check.

4 comments:

Juno said...

I think holyfield will use his experience to defeat valuev, holyfield managed to do that against foreman, holmes, and tyson

http://www.iwebie.com/holyfield-vs-valuev-boxing-live-stream

Kenneth Ragpala said...

Juno, I think you missed an important element here. Holyfield was a lot younger during the times he boxed with all three fighters you mentioned.
Given Holyfield's experience, I guess all are pretty sure Holyfield will use all of that extensively. But when you go down through the annals of boxing, experience is sometimes not enough. Take a look at Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Oscar De La Hoya and the recent Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya. Chavez was far an experienced fighter than ODLH but Oscar battered him to retirement. The same is true when Pacquiao did the same to ODLH.
Experience is a good thing. But not enough. As for Holyfield-Valuev, obviously the Russian has more firepower than the "The Real Deal."

Dr. HotNonPorn said...

I think that Valuev will pound Holyfield, but Holyfield needs the money to pay his alimony and whatnot, so he'll suck it up.

Who knows? He might even make it competitive in the process. If 60-year old Rocky Balboa could give the prime Mason Dixon a good fight, anything can happen.

Kenneth Ragpala said...

The problem with Rocky Balboa was that he is the hero in the movie, so he was slated to win. Besides, Balboa needed to go out in style.