Evander Holyfield Set To Retire If No Fights Forthcoming In 2012

by Johnny Walker

Frustrated at his inability to secure fights with any of the current heavyweight champions, faded former great Evander Holyfield says he’ll hang up his gloves permanently if he can’t find a bout by the end of 2012.

While attending an open training session for WBA “regular” champion Alexander Povetkin, who takes on veteran Hasim Rahman on September 29, Holyfield, 49, said, “If I don’t get a fight lined up by this year, I retire. So, don’t nobody fight me by the end of this year, that’s it for me,”

WBC world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko recently said that fighting his boxing idol Holyfield was out of the question. And neither his brother and fellow champion Wladimir nor Povetkin has shown much interest in such a match-up either.

But the aging fighter continues to insist that he has what it takes to take down the Klitschko brothers.

“The thing is, I believe that I could beat them, either one of them,” says Holyfield.

“I believe that I have the knowledge. They’re very knowledgeable fighters, they’re good thinkers, so you’ve got to out-think the thinker.”

“The thing is that I see the fights they fight and I think that I could make the adjustment that’s necessary to be able to win.”