Holyfield Is the Good Guy to Tyson’s Bad Guy

Wearing the world heavyweight championship belt is something to which he aspired and in which he takes great pride. Carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders is something for which not even the strongest of men is fully prepared. Through no fault of his own, Evander Holyfield has become The Great Fight Hope.

When he steps into the ring for the main event on the night of Nov. 8 at Caesars Palace, Holyfield will be on his own against Mike Tyson. Yet, until the moment the bell sounds, he will be treated as the standardbearer for women, children, small pets and law-abiding citizens of every race, gender and economic strata. The burden, roughly akin to the agenda St. George carried into battle with The Dragon, is less the result of who he is and what he has done than who he isn’t and what he hasn’t done.

Holyfield isn’t Tyson and he hasn’t been arraigned for rape in the state of Indiana or served with papers in multimillion-dollar civil suits contending that he brazenly fondled women without their consent. The champ is modest and God-fearing in his public pronouncements, hard-working and attentive in training, and, by comparison to his opponent, a veritable knight in shining armor. Holyfield is understandably reluctant to debate the merits of their respective life-styles. “I’ve learned to keep my personal opinions to myself,” he said yesterday during a conference call from his Houston training camp.

It is standard operating procedure in boxing for the promoters and publicists to emphasize the contrasts between fighters. That includes puncher vs. dancer, short vs. tall and the ever-popular black vs. white. The central theme in many of Tyson’s bouts ,one notable exception being the match against the uncontrollable Mitch Green) has been good vs. evil. Unlike many of his predecessors, Tyson has not been reluctant to embrace the latter image. But much of his allure was based on the perception of malice in his crude statements and his snarling approach to the sport.

Now there is real reason for the public to fear Tyson, and a court date in January to consider the serious charges brought against him. Even the boxing community, outside of the circle controlled by Don King and his World Boxing Council ally, Jose Sulaiman, is being forced into Holyfield’s corner. Tyson may be the biggest box-office attraction in the business but what a low blow it would be if the man were to regain the title and then be convicted.

There was the time in Kuala Lumpur when local officials, concerned with preventing what King calls “trickerations” in Muhammad Ali’s title defense against Joe Bugner, ordered the official gloves locked up until fight time. Ali was mindblown. “They put the gloves in jail?” he repeated in astonished tones. Imagine the impact on boxing if they put the champ behind bars.

Holyfield conceded he was getting feedback on the subject. “I understand more people will be pulling for me because of the indictment,” he said. But he denied it would add to the pressure he felt. “When more people want you to win,” he said, “it gives you more inspiration.”

He is a positive person, and that’s a plus. Yet, two days after a grand jury in Indianapolis recommended Tyson be brought to trial, the moral ramifications of the showdown in the desert already were an annoyance. “The media has taken away a lot from the fight,” he said. “They’re talking more about the incident than about Holyfield-Tyson.”

It’s not something he chooses to discuss but the questions are likely to grow more insistent as the date for the bout draws near. By November, he may be charged with nothing less than preserving Western civilization as we know it.

“I thank God I don’t have negative (attention),” Holyfield said. “If I don’t have positive attention, I’d rather have none at all.” Which is mostly the way his career has gone. In his most recent defense, the champ took a back seat to the huggable, quotable George Foreman in everyplace but the ring. Even after scoring a unanimous and convincing decision, Holyfield was virtually ignored in the rush to praise the old man for going the distance.

A victory over Tyson isn’t likely to change the focus of this fight, either, he decided. “(Critics) will say the poor man had so much pressure on him,” Holyfield noted, not without bite. “When my career’s over, they might change their minds.”

Meanwhile, the promotion moves forward with the spotlight squarely on Tyson and his erratic behavior. Like it or not, Holyfield has been deputized, been given the responsibility of making the world a safer place. There hasn’t been such a clear choice wince misguided white folks decided to teach Jack Johnson a lesson, or at least since Sonny Liston glowered at Floyd Patterson. It should be noted that, in those cases, the alleged villains won virtually as they pleased.

Perhaps that is why Holyfield is under no illusions. “We’re not talking about personal lives, about who’s a better man outside the ring,” he said, “but about who’s a better man in the ring.” In boxing, as in life, image has taken some brutal beatings.