Everyone knows Evander Holyfield refuses to quit.
That earned him massive laurels when he resurrected his career with two monster victories against Mike Tyson, in 1996 and 1997, and another stirring win against Michael Moorer.
But that was long ago. In the 14 years since stopping Moorer, he has gone 8-7-2. He will be 48 when he climbs through the ropes on Saturday night in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., to take on Sherman “Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KOs), no youngster at 38.
No matter the advancing age and mediocre record, Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) insists he can become the champ once again.
“I didn’t get discouraged for long, and I will try to get my title shot,” Holyfield told fightnews.com. “I want to finish my 26-year career as champion. Everybody knows this.”
Everybody knows how cruel the ring can be. You will have to shell out pay-per-view dough to watch at 9 p.m. Cleveland junior welterweight Miguel Gonzalez (12-2, 11 KOs) is on the undercard against Ramon Guevara (9-20-2,6KOs).
Real deal: A much better match should take place when undefeated 140-pound champions Timothy Bradley (25-0, 12 KOs) and Devon Alexander (21-0, 13 KOs) square off Jan. 29 at the Pontiac Silverdome, the former home of the Detroit Lions.
Since neither fighter is from Michigan, it has been a tough sell for the 80,000 seats in the old football stadium. Don King, who has WBC titleist Alexander, will do his best the next two weeks to drum up business.
Visit silverdometickets.com or call 248-338-2500 for tickets that are $25 to $400. But if you don’t want to make the trip north, HBO will be there to televise it at 10 p.m.
Back together: Promoters Bob Arum and King will be in New York on Wednesday to hype their joint venture of WBA super welterweight Miguel Cotto (35-2, 29 KOs) taking on Ricardo Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 12. Arum and King most recently co-promoted a show five years ago.
King plans to bring back Christy Martin (49-5-3, 31 KOs) in a bid for her 50th career win. Her husband, Jim Martin, is in jail in Florida awaiting trial after shooting and stabbing the women’s boxing legend on Thanksgiving.
This one will be a Showtime-produced pay-per-view television deal.
Amateur show: Cleveland’s West Side Boxing Club presents “Battle in the Ballroom II” at the Slovenian National Home, 6417 St. Clair Ave., in Cleveland on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 VIP, $20 table and $15 general admission, $5 more on fight night. Call Bill Godhard at 440-785-4900 or Todd Kincaid at 440-223-7409.
Next: Undefeated Cleveland welterweight Shawn Porter (17-0, 13 KOs) has landed on the ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” in Salisbury, Md., on Feb. 18. He will take on Adrian Mora (20-1-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
Although a Stow High graduate, Porter calls Cleveland his fighting home.
Awards: The Boxing Writers Association of America has voted Micky Ward the 2010 James A. Farley Award for “Honesty and Integrity in Boxing.” Ward, 45, went 38-13, 27 KOs, with his trilogy against Arturo Gatti considered classics. His final bout was a loss to Gatti on June 7, 2003. Ward, who is portrayed by actor Mark Wahlberg in the movie “The Fighter,” will be honored at the BWAA’s annual awards dinner later this year.
Wladimir Klitschko, Sergio Martinez, Manny Pacquiao, Giovanni Segura and Andre Ward are the BWAA nominees for fighter of the year.
This week in history: Muhammad Ali turned 69 on Monday. . . . Sandy Saddler stopped Flash Elorde in the 13th round in San Francisco in to retain the featherweight title on Jan. 18, 1956.
New leader: USA Boxing has selected Joe Zanders as its new national coach. Zanders was a member of the 2004 coaching staff at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
The native of Long Beach, Calif., recently retired after 30 years as a youth counselor with the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice.
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