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Holyfield out to prove first win not a fluke
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Again and again, Evander Holyfield kept saying it, though it fell mostly on the deaf ears of the disbelieving. He wasn't just predicting a victory over the fearsome Mike Tyson, he was guaranteeing it.Few listened to the aging warrior coming off a string of unimpressive fights. Oddsmakers made him as much as a 17-1 underdog. Tyson's own handlers told their man that Holyfield was a pushover whose glory days were past.
And then the unthinkable happened. Holyfield not only beat Tyson last November, he gave him the beating of his career.
Tonight, he tries to do it again in the richest fight in boxing history. Once again, Holyfield is promising a victory. Only this time, people are listening.
"There's just no way I can lose," Holyfield said. "I'm even better this time. It might just be easier for me."
Seven months after he shocked the boxing world by stopping Tyson 37 seconds into the 11th round to win the WBA heavyweight title, the 34-year-old Holyfield puts the title on the line in a scheduled 12-round rematch at the MGM Grand Garden.
Both fighters will earn huge paydays of $30 million or more in a much-anticipated rematch before a sold-out crowd of 16,331 that will pay a record boxing gate of more than $14 million.
The fight, which figures to be the richest ever, will begin about 11:30 p.m. EDT. It is expected to reach some 1.8 million homes at a pay-per-view price of $49.95.
"I don't believe in revenge," Tyson said. "But after Saturday night, I'll be the heavyweight champion again."
Oddsmakers agreed, with Tyson about a 2-1 favorite most of the week before the fight. His mental state, though, might be questioned after his co-managers asked the Nevada Athletic Commission to remove Mitch Halpern as a referee because Tyson might be "psychologically damaged" by having the same referee who counted him out the first time in the ring again.
Commissioners rejected the protest, but Halpern decided early Friday to step aside anyway in favor of Mills Lane, who has refereed numerous Tyson and Holyfield bouts.
For Tyson, who turns 31 on Monday, the fight could be a crossroads in a career that has prospered since he was released from prison two years ago. Tyson has made some $100 million in purses since that time.
But Tyson was unable to bully Holyfield as he was the other fighters he encountered in the ring, and it was Holyfield who was the stronger and better puncher who gave Tyson a beating to take the WBA title in the Nov. 9 fight.
"I'll bring even more to the table this time," Holyfield promised. "Mike Tyson is prepared to beat the guy he fought Nov. 9. I have to be better to beat him June 28."
Both fighters weighed in at 218 pounds on Thursday, with Tyson four pounds lighter and Holyfield three pounds heavier than in their first fight.
Tyson brought in former trainer Richie Giachetti to train him for the rematch. He worked on regaining the movement of his head and his left jab that served him so well early in his career.
"I've watched the tape of the fight a few times," Tyson said. "I saw certain things I should have done differently."
Win or lose, Holyfield plans to continue boxing, even though he has made more than $100 million in the ring and has taken some beatings in a 33-3 professional career that began as a light heavyweight.
Tyson also figures to stay in the ring, though it could be as a fighter who is more of a curiosity than anything, and one who will have to fight for purses well beneath what he has been used to.
A Tyson win, of course, could set up a rubber match between the fighters, much like Holyfield's trio of fights with Riddick Bowe. If Tyson loses, his future is less clear.
"Mike Tyson would be a changed product, but still a very marketable opponent," Showtime executive Jay Larkin said. "He would be a different Mike Tyson. There's nothing like losing two fights in a row to give a fighter a new outlook."
On the undercard, Larry Daniel La Coursiere could become an historical footnote when he fights Julio Cesar Chavez.
Chavez will go after the 100th win of his pro career when he meets La Coursiere. He will also try to set up a future fight with Miguel Angel Gonzalez, his Mexican countryman.
Gonzalez, a former WBC lightweight champion, will fight Bert Roberto Granciosa in a 10-round super lightweight bout, and Christy Martin will box Andrea Deshong in a women's lightweight match scheduled for 10 2-minute rounds.
Lonnie Bradley will defend the WBO middleweight championship against John Williams in a bout that will be taped for possible showing on pay-per-view. Bradley, of New York, has a 25-0-1 record, with 19 knockouts. Williams, of Bradenton, Fla., has an 18-4 record, with 11 knockouts.