Heavyweights at the Garden
By Tom Donelson

INSIDE BOXING (November 14. 2004) - At the end of the ninth round, Holyfield nailed Donald with a sharp right and Donald went back to his stool, shaken. At the beginning of the tenth round, Holyfield attacked once again and once again Donald appeared to be on wobbly feet. Then after 30 seconds, Holyfield’s brief burst was over. Donald weathered the storm and went on to out box Holyfield for the rest of the fight just as he did for the first 9 rounds. For one brief 45 seconds, Holyfield looked like the old Holyfield but for the rest of the fight, Holyfield was just an old fighter. The old Holyfield would have knocked Donald out after having him in trouble. Let us be frank, Donald, as a fighter could not carry a prime Holyfield’s jockstrap. At his peak, Holyfield would have taken Donald to the wood shed and this fight would not have even gone the distance. Today Holyfield is not even competitive against a second tier fighter. As one HBO announcer observed, when Holyfield lost to Toney; he lost to one of the best technical fighter. Losing to Donald is different. For most of this fight, Donald just pot shot the former champion and had an easy evening. Last night, we saw the continuing decline of once great fighter.

Jim Lampley made this observation about Rahman that he is intelligent man inside and outside the ring but he does his best to avoid using that intelligence. Rahman is one of those fighters who can box and slug. Last night, he used all his talent and looked like the fighter who beat Lennox Lewis in their first fight. It is hard to judge this fight since Meehan had only two other fights against recognized opponents- both losses. Meehan came into this fight just having lost a close controversial decision to Lamon Brewster and this was his big moment. Win and he became a legitimate contender. After the fight, Meehan was relegated back to the second-tier fighting corp.

Rahman jumped on Meehan from the opening bell and using combinations of jabs and overhead rights, he shook Meehan with every punch that connected. Meehan showed heart but Rahman was the superior fighter. This was a case of a top 30 fighter against a legitimate heavyweight contender who was at his best. Meehan had no chance and Rahman decided to bring his A game. Now the real question is for Rahman, can he keep that A game for his next fight? Rahman has the skills to be champion again but in the past, his inconsistency plagued his career. With Rahman, no one knows which Rahman would show up. Last night he came in a trim 232 pounds and he looked confident. He looked like a champion.

Then there is Ruiz-Golota. I had Golota winning the fight by one point but there were so many close rounds that you could have flipped a coin on scoring those rounds. As for Ruiz, he treated us to yet another masterpiece of wrestling, holding and mugging. Every time Ruiz fights, boxing is taken back a century and the most entertaining aspect of Ruiz is his trainer, the ever-classy Norman Stone. Stone gave Randy Neumann an earful of every obscenities known to man. Mr. Stone called Neumann a s**thead, a**hole, c**k s*cker and a j**k off in between rounds When Neumann threw Stone out, Stone threatened to sue Neumann and everyone in shooting distance. To top it off, he looked King in the eyes and told King the fight was fixed. One would wish it was true and then we would be spared Ruiz’s fighting.

Alone in the locker room after being removed, Stone delivered the line of the night when he commented that he never said anything to Neumann. Nearly million of us watching this on PPV had our chuckle of the evening. Yea right, Norman, you didn’t say anything. But then it is HBO and a few four-letter words are considered the standing operating language. I suspect that Randy Neumann will not put Stone on his Christmas card list.

As for the fight itself, Ruiz ended up on the canvas twice in the second round but Golota could not take advantage of his early work and he let Ruiz back in the fight. Ruiz did what Ruiz always does, scrapped and hold. He went back to what worked, as he would hit Golota and hold. Golota had his moments to take the fight back as there were times that Ruiz would pose but Golota failed to deliver his jab to take control of the fight. He allowed Ruiz to punch and hold. In the second half of the fight, Ruiz would throw one or two sharper punch per round than Golota and kept coming forward. Golota kept his composure throughout the fight and manage to go the whole bout without incurring a deduction. What he did not do was use his technical skills to its utmost advantage.

Ruiz is a nice guy outside the ring but inside the ring, he is a scrappy but boring fighter to watch. It is painful to see this guy fight over 12 rounds and yet no one can seem to beat his guy decisively.

If Ruiz-Golota represented yet another low for championship boxing, Byrd-McCline reminds us what is good about the sport. This fight saw two men giving all they got and more. We saw exquisite boxing skills matched with gritty determination. McCline strategy was to fight big and pin Byrd to the ropes. In the second round, the strategy appeared to be working as McCline nailed Byrd with a short right hand at the end of the round. Byrd was lucky that two seconds were left in the round as he wobbled back to his corner. McCline ripped short punches to the body and appeared to have the early advantage as he imposed his will on the smaller Byrd.

Byrd is one of boxing’s gritty competitors. As this stage of his career, Byrd has lost a little of his speed and elusiveness. He was getting nailed with shots that he would have avoided three years ago but he was able to weather McCline early attacks. After the fifth round, Byrd took command as he out punched McCline. Moving and countering, Byrd nailed McCline with rapid-fire combinations. McCline found that carrying his 270 pounds difficult over 12 rounds and he started to slow down as the fight progressed. Byrd endurance and hand speed took over as he took almost every round in the second hand of the fight. In the eleventh round, he nearly knocked McCline out and in the twelfth round, he closed the show. This was a close fight but there was no doubt that Byrd won the fight. When Jim Lampley stated that Byrd escaped another close call, Roy Jones countered that no- Byrd didn’t escape but won this fight.

McCline fought his best fight and showed moments that maybe he could pull off the upset and in the end, it was Byrd’s heart and boxing smarts that saved him. Larry Merchants speak for the majority of boxing pundits that Byrd is not what we expect in a heavyweight. I like Byrd for the reason that others hate him. He is not a heavy puncher and he prefers avoid getting hit as oppose to trading. He knows his limitation and uses his gifts to their maximum advantage. What Byrd does prove that the a small man can still fight in the heavyweight division and reminds us that boxing is more than brute strength. He is an artist who uses guile and smarts to win. What is there is not to like about his guy? He is one of boxing class act and the ultimate family man. His mom and dad run his corner, his wife and sister cheer from ringside. What made the McCline-Byrd fight so enjoyable was that we saw two class act fighting at their best and entertaining us in the process. While Ruiz-Golota was another chapter in the decline of the present heavyweight division, McCline-Byrd showed us what boxing can aspire to be. It is a sport in which guts and heart combined with skills can be both entertaining and dramatic. The fight was in doubt from the opening bell but in the end, the best man won and everyone seem pleased with the results.

So what can we surmise from last night? Ruiz is still Ruiz but he just keeps winning. Byrd showed why he is special but the real winner was Rahman. Rahman put his entire arsenal on display and put the division on notice- he is back. As for Holyfield, this should be the end of wonderful career. Whereas Rahman had everything going, Holyfield had nothing left under the proverbial hood. One man salvaged his career and put himself in position to be champion again. Another man showed that heart alone can’t beat father time.