Holyfield Handles Cut, Slow Pace : Boxing: Holmes is content to conserve his strength by staying on the ropes, but champion retains title by a unanimous decision.

Evander Holyfield survived the first serious cut of his career and defeated Larry Holmes by unanimous decision at Caesars Palace Friday night.

During a fight that was booed at times by many in the crowd of about 13,000, less than capacity, for a lack of action, the 42-year-old Holmes spent most of the 12 rounds on the ropes, throwing few punches in an apparent effort to conserve strength.

There were no knockdowns, but both champion and challenger rocked each other at several points in the fight. For the most part, both heavyweights pawed at each other on the ropes, where Holmes preferred to be most of the time.

It was a hot night, 90 degrees at the start, and the two fought their way through swarms of flying insects that gathered under the ring lights. Yet Holmes was surprisingly strong over the last two rounds, winning two of the last three, in fact, on many cards.

Two judges had Holyfield by margins of 116-112, a third by 117-111. Two Times cards had Holyfield, 116-112 and 119-109.

For the first time in his undefeated 28-bout career, Holyfield had to contend with a cut, which appeared over the champion’s right eye late in the sixth round. For years, Holyfield has employed one of boxing’s most respected cutmen, Ace Marotta, and for the first time since Holyfield turned pro in 1984, Marotta finally had something to do.

“It was the first cut of his career, and Evander came through it like a champ,” said his 70-year-old trainer, Lou Duva.

Holyfield said later that the cut was opened by a Holmes elbow, and that he would visit a Las Vegas hospital for stitches late Friday night.

For the 29-year-old Holyfield, it was the third successful defense of the title he won by knocking out Buster Douglas in 1990. It was also a good deal less exciting than his previous two bouts, against George Foreman and Bert Cooper, and for that Duva was grateful.

Holyfield said that Holmes, 54-4 in a 19-year-career, was much tougher than Foreman, whom he defeated by a decision 14 months ago.

“I was able to keep George right in front of me, I could square off and hit him with good, clean shots,” he said.

“But I couldn’t do that with Larry. I commend him for his good defense. I couldn’t get to his body like I wanted.

“Larry had more than I thought he would. He just wouldn’t let me hit him with good, clean shots.”

Holmes, who seemed unwilling to test his legs and stamina in the early and mid-rounds, was the second-oldest ever to challenge a heavyweight champion. He was competitive, although seldom dominant, in every round.

His strongest rounds were his first three and his last three, with Holyfield sailing comfortably through the mid-rounds.

But on many cards, Holmes was nearly even with the champion at the midway point, a testimonial to the care with which Holyfield was fighting Holmes, who defended the championship 20 times between 1978 and 1985.

Holmes came into the ring playfully, sparring in jest briefly with the referee, Mills Lane, and with ring announcer Michael Buffer. He conversed briefly with his wife, Diane, eight rows back.

The tone of the match was established in the opening seconds, when Holyfield landed a lead right and Holmes backed up to the ropes, in effect inviting Holyfield to follow him. From all four corners and along the ropes connecting them, Holmes tried to counter his younger challenger. Holyfield was very busy with his left jab, but his offense wasn’t nearly as aggressive as many expected.

The crowd reacted for the first time when Holmes landed a three-punch combination early in the second and the locked up the round with a half dozen scoring rights.

At the finish of the second, which ended in Holyfield’s corner, the relaxed Holmes paused to pat Duva on the head. Holyfield’s furious trainer ordered the challenger to move to his own corner. Holmes left, smiling.

Holyfield’s first big punch of the fight was a long right early in the third round. But Holmes finished the round with some strong countering rights, and at that point it briefly seemed he might pull off an upset with one big right.

The best part of Holyfield’s night came in the last 45 seconds of the fourth round, when he was extremely sharp, pummeling Holmes with several combinations.

But never did he have Holmes truly hurt, as he had Foreman. He also was never seriously hurt by Holmes, as he was by the unheralded Cooper in November.

And rarely did Holyfield follow up when he scored with lead rights. He was scoring points, but he wasn’t frightening anyone, least of all the paunchy, 233-pound challenger.

The best action round was the sixth, when the 210-pound Holyfield landed two solid right hands in the first minute. Holmes countered the second one, and that seemed to touch off Holyfield. In a fury, he hurt Holmes with a right that came down the middle.

For the first time in the fight, Holyfield seemed to be solidly in command.

The action slowed considerably after that exchange, and boos were heard. More booing rolled out of the grandstands at the end of a very slow 10th.

Holyfield said afterward he partially blocked most of Holmes’ countering and lead rights.

“He threw some good right hands, but I could see them coming and and I slipped most of them,” he said.

Holmes, who had ridiculed Holyfield’s credentials before the fight, went a little overboard, it seemed, in making up afterward.

“He didn’t follow my plans,” he said. “He fought a very smart fight. He didn’t get tired like I thought he would.”

Holmes spent much of the postfight interview praising his wife for her support in his comeback, then Foreman, who sat at the head table with Holmes, made his pitch for another multi-million-dollar payday, a so-called “Geezers at Caesars” match.

“I still say the big fight everyone wants to see is me and Larry Holmes,” he said.

On the undercard, Costa Mesa super-bantamweight Rudy Zavala moved into championship consideration with a sixth-round technical knockout of former champion Pedro Decima of Buenos Aires.

Decima’s defeat was hastened by a bad cut on his forehead, caused by a fifth-round head butt. Zavala (17-0-1) knocked Decima (29-4) down three times, the last time with a body shot in the sixth. Seconds later, referee Richard Steele, deciding Decima’s vision was impaired by the cut, stopped the fight.

* ALLAN MALAMUD

Evander Holyfield used Larry Holmes for target practice Friday night but struck no fear into the rest of the heavyweight division. C9