Evander Holyfield vs. Sherman Williams

Evander Holyfield 224 lbs fought without result Sherman Williams 258 lbs by NC at 3:00 in round 3 of 12

• Date: 2011-01-22
• Location: The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, USA
• Referee: Cranston David Johnson
• Judge: Dale Hardwick 28-29
• Judge: Rick Modesitt 28-29
• Judge: Jim Frio 28-29

• World Boxing Federation Heavyweight Title (1st defense by Holyfield)

Notes

• Holyfield vs. Williams was originally scheduled to take place at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena in 2010. The date of the fight was moved from November 5 to November 12 to December 9 before being cancelled on November 17. The first two postponements were due to lagging ticket sales and the lack of a television deal. Olympia Entertainment, which was promoting the fight, said the cancellation was "due to unforeseen circumstance." The fight fight [1]
• Due to the cut he suffered against Williams, Holyfield's scheduled March 5 fight against Brian Nielsen was postponed until May 7.

Holyfield looks dreadful against Williams
By Dan Rafael, ESPN, January 24, 2011

In the main event of an excruciatingly bad pay-per-view -- perhaps the worst ever (for real) -- the 48-year-old Holyfield looked every bit his age. The former four-time heavyweight titleholder is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, but is now so far removed from being a quality fighter it is simply sad to watch. He let a journeyman opponent he once would have crushed without breaking a sweat smack him around with right hands and dominate the first three rounds until the anticlimactic ending of what had been an abysmal night. (Don't even ask about the Ray Charles and Bruce Springsteen imitators singing between fights and the female trapeze artist. Seriously.)

Williams, a 38-year-old native of the Bahamas based in Ft. Pierce, Fla., was fighting for only the third time since 2007 and he had not fought since a loss in October 2009. Yet there he was taking it to Atlanta's worn-out Holyfield, backing him up with right hands. All Holyfield could do was bounce up and down and side to side with little ability to fire a meaningful shot. The fight, originally ticketed to take place in Detroit, had already been postponed multiple times before finally landing at a West Virginia resort, where a black-tie crowd watched with little enthusiasm. It was hard to blame them. It was like watching Willie Mays stumble around in the outfield during his last days with the Mets or listening to Frank Sinatra butcher his classics at the end. Just pathetic.

In the second round, an accidental head butt caught Holyfield and opened a small cut over his left eye. Williams had a big third round and after it was over, Holyfield quit on his stool complaining that blood was getting in his eye and that he could not see. Referee Dave Johnson bought it and declared the fight a no contest because it had not yet gone the required four rounds to send it to the scorecards (where, even had it gone four rounds, it would have been impossible to imagine Holyfield ahead after the way he looked through the early rounds). The only problem with the stoppage was that the cut did not look bad at all and there was very little sign of any blood dripping. Holyfield just seemed to not want to continue. He is due to fight March 5 in Denmark against fellow fossil Brian Nielson, although it is possible the cut could delay that bout. Holyfield also mentioned the possibility of a rematch with Williams. Lord help us. Does anyone actually want to see Holyfield fight anymore against anyone? He talks about wanting to become undisputed champion again before finally retiring. Even if he was still good enough to be able to win against the guys with the titles boxing politics make it virtually impossible to hold all the belts. Holyfield can dream, and it's hard not to admire his stubborn determination, but enough is enough. He can fight if he wants as long as some commission somewhere will license him. If he wants to get his brains beat in some more, so be it. But he is not going to be undisputed champion. Simply ain't happening. He has a better chance of getting hit by lightning or winning the next Mega Millions jackpot. Too bad he doesn't realize it. [2]