Evander Holyfield is planning to challenge Russian Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title in a bid to become the oldest world champion in boxing history, it was revealed on Thursday.
“Yes, we are in negotiations with Evander Holyfield,” Chris Meyer, the managing director of German company Sauerland Event which represents Valuev, told reporters.
Holyfield will be 46 next Sunday. If he wins the fight, he will become the oldest heavyweight champion in history — passing George Foreman, who was 45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994.
“We have made him an offer, but nothing has been signed yet,” Mayer said. “Should the fight happen, it will likely be staged in either Switzerland or Germany in December.”
Dec. 20 has been penciled in as a possible fight date and Holyfield has confirmed his lawyer is looking at the fight contract.
“It’s solid,” Holyfield said on the ESPN.com Web site. “They asked if I will take the fight for the offer they made and if everything is straight up, I will take that fight. My lawyer is looking at it.”
With a fight record of 42 wins, 27 knockouts, nine defeats and two draws, Holyfield was the undisputed heavyweight champion in the 90s, having twice beaten Mike Tyson, before he lost his WBC, WBA and IBF belts to Lennox Lewis in 1999.
He is most famous for having his ear bitten by Mike Tyson during their fight in 1997.
But since 2001, he has won only five of his 11 fights and lost his last fight to WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov in Moscow in October last year.
Valuev defeated John Ruiz for the vacant WBA title in August and regained the title he lost to Ruslan Chagaev in April last year.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS