LAS VEGAS - No heavyweight championship will be on the line, but the winner of the Evander Holyfield-James Toney fight this fall hopes to be in position to challenge for a title.
Holyfield has said he will not retire until he reclaims the IBF, WBC and WBA title belts. Holyfield lost a fight for the vacant IBF title to Chris Byrd last December. Lennox Lewis owns the WBC title and Roy Jones Jr. is the WBA champ.
Holyfield, the four-time world heavyweight champion, and Toney, the International Boxing Federation cruiserweight titleholder, held a news conference at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino Wednesday, the site of their Oct. 4 fight.
Promoter Dan Goosen said the ``two warriors who have fought anyone and everyone'' have similar, straightforward styles.
``Holyfield has sheer determination, will and guts,'' Goosen said. ``Toney is virtually the same type of fighter with his determination and will.
``It's a fight fan's fight.
The winner of the 12-round fight to be televised on Showtime Pay Per View will be recognized as one of the top three heavyweights in the world, Goosen predicted.
In the war of words, Toney (66-4-2 with 40 knockouts) made some predictions of his own.
``I'm going to retire you,'' Toney said to Holyfield. ``I'm not going to hug you. I'm not going to hold you. I'm not going to bite you. I'm going to fight you.''
The 34-year-old Toney is a three-time champion, having won the IBF middleweight title in 1992 and the IBF super middleweight title in 1993. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native relinquished his belt in 1994 when he was beaten by Roy Jones Jr., and was thought to be on the downside of his career until April 26, 2003, when he won a unanimous decision over Vassiliy Jirov to capture the IBF title.
``We are the two best heavyweights in the world,'' Toney said. ``I'll do whatever I have to do to get Evander Holyfield out of here.''
``He is a great fighter but you know he's going to sleep,'' he said.
Holyfield (38-6-2, 25 KOs) smiled as Toney spoke. At age 40, Holyfield is dreaming about a fifth title fight.
Holyfield, an Atmore, Ala., native, captured his first title in 1986 when he won a 15-round decision over Dwight Qawi in a WBA cruiserweight bout. He won the heavyweight title for the first time in 1990 when he knocked out Buster Douglas.
But he's won just twice in his last seven fights.
``People asked me why I took this fight,'' Holyfield said. ``I took it because this is one guy who refuses to move. I won't have to find you. I'll always know we're you're at.''
The undercard features a 12-round bout between once-beaten former 130-pound champions Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor.
Corrales (37-1, 31 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., is a former IBF 130-pound champion. His only defeat came Jan. 20, 2001, when he lost by 10th-round TKO to Floyd Mayweather. Casamayor (29-1, 18 KOs), of Guantanamo, Cuba, is a former World Boxing Association champion who lost a 12-round decision to Acelino Freitas on Jan. 12, 2002.
Sunday
January 26th, 2025
7:01PM
