Four-time heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield
, who is preparing for Saturday night's bout with 41-year-old, Francois Botha, for the fringe, WBF crown, dismissed any notion of a third-bout with Mike Tyson in a telephone interview with FanHouse on Monday.Holyfield's name has surfaced among those being considered amid rumors that the 43-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) is considering a comeback that would end a ring absence that has existed since his last bout -- a sixth-round knockout loss to Kevin McBride in June of 2005.
The 47-year-old Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts), who will face Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs) at The Thomas and Mack Center, twice defeated Tyson, by 11th-round knockout, and, third-round disqualification in November of 1996, and, June of '97, respectively -- the latter after Tyson took bites out of each of Holyfield's ears.
Despite reports that Holyfield and Tyson have spoken recently concerning a third match up, Holyfield told FanHouse that the last time he talked to Tyson was in October, when each of the fighters expressed mutual praise and admiration during a live episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
"The last time I spoke to Mike was around the time that we did the Oprah show, and since then, there has been no conversation between Mike and myself," said Holyfield, from Las Vegas during a conversation on the celular phone of his manager, Ken Sanders.
"The last time I spoke to him, he told me that he's not into boxing," said Holyfield. "He said that he's not into boxing, and his heart is not into it, and it's something that he just don't want to do. And that's the last conversation that I had with Mike."
Already the only man to win a heavyweight crown for the fourth time, Holyfield could not only be the sport's first five-time heavyweight champion, but also the oldest man to win a crown in boxing's largest division.
Holyfield, who turns 48 in October, can become the eldest man to regain a heavyweight title by surpassing George Foreman, who, at the age of 45, scored a November, 1994, 10th-round knockout to dethrone previously unbeaten, Michael Moorer, as WBA and IBF champion.
Holyfield, who has earned more than $200 million in the ring, said that he would only face Tyson if it led to a shot at a fifth title.
Long-range goals for Holyfield involve bouts with Ukrainian-born, 38-year-old brother, WBC king, Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs), his younger brother, 33-year-old, WBO and IBF champion, Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs), or 29-year-old, WBA titlist, David Haye (24-2, 22 KOs), of England.
"First of all, we wanted this fight [with Botha] so that Evander can win the title, and that Evander can be the champion. And then, we're working on one major fight in Austria, for probably July or August," said Sanders.
"And then, after that, we hope to be in position, somewhere in October, November or December to fight Vitali Klitschko. And I am speaking with people as we go," said Sanders. "I've already spoken to [WBC director] Jose Sulaiman, and Mr. Sulaiman said that he would definitely approve Evander to fight Vitali for the championship."
Klitschko is scheduled to defend his crown against Polish-born, 31-year-old Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs) on May 29 at Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
"We've got to pick somebody out for Austria. We want to see how Evander does in this fight here, but we don't have anybody in particular picked out for his next fight," said Sanders, who mentioned 25-year-old Sam Sexton (13-1, six KOs), of Norwich, Norfolk, England, among "some half-dozen" candidates.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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