Holyfield talks to Terence Moore
Holyfileld and Moore each live in Atlanta and that’s where they spoke. When they got around to talking about Mayweather and Pacquiao, Holyfield did not shy away from stating unequivocally who he thinks will win the fight. The reasons he gave to Moore though are rather different than those of others who believe Pacquiao will become Mayweather’s first loss.
No, for Holyfield, 52, the four-time World Heavyweight Division Champion, who retired only four years ago, it’s not just what Pacquiao can do that will win him the fight It’s not Pacquiao’s superior speed, Holyfield believes, not the power of his punch or even how he can keep moving, shifting, coming, dropping back, then moving quickly in again. No, none of that will do it.
It’s the business of boxing that will do it. The powers that be.
“Mayweather won’t win, because from what I’ve seen, boxing doesn’t want nobody to get out (of boxing) undefeated,” Holyfield told Moore. “They want to keep the money in the sport by doing things to make it happen this way: Somebody beats the man, and then somebody beats the man who beat the man, and then somebody beats the man who beat the man who beat the man who beat the man.
“So I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, because it’s going to be a close fight. Yeah, it’ll be close, and Pacquiao is going to get the decision. Then it’s going to be a matter of whether Mayweather is going to fight again, whether he feels like he has made enough money to say, ‘I ain’t got to fight.'”
Rocky Marciano and the undefeated
True, or no? Well, no major boxing figure has retired undefeated without so much as a draw since Rocky Marciano (49-0) retired in 1955. German Sven Ottke (34-0; retired in 2004) and Venezuelan Edwin Valero (27-0; died in 2010 at age 28) were both undefeated and each won championship belts, but neither is considered a major fight figure.
Is Holyfield right? It seems more likely that boxers don’t retire undefeated because they take on a lot of fighters and it’s a brutal sport, and staying undefeated is near impossible. And to believe Holyfield is right you’d have to believe there is a boxing conspiracy behind closed doors, which many writers who cover the sport, such as Thomas Hauser, might suggest is within the realm of the possible.
But a conspiracy of such a great magnitude? Involving not just executives but referees and judges, too. And why? Regardless of who wins the upcoming superfight there will almost certainly be a rematch that will create another windfall for the boxers and for boxing.
In that talk with Moore, Holyfield acknowledged there is more money to be made beyond the numbers this time around – some believe the superfight will gross over $400 million – regardless of who wins. But he still thinks that boxing won’t allow Mayweather to retire without a loss.
“It’s a good chance Mayweather is not going to hang it up, so there’s going to be another $100 million (Mayweather v. Pacquiao) fight. (Boxing execs) set it up that way. It’s because they will not let you out of boxing undefeated, not unless you trick them. It’s like this: You have to tell them, ‘I’m going to fight 10 more times,’ and then when you get to five – you quit.”
The fight goes May 2 in Las Vegas.