Not bad for a one armed fighter.

[SMOKE JENSEN]

Seems that Holyfield fought with one arm against Byrd. See article below. Again another testament to the mans courage. I've seen only a handful of great courages fighters in my years of watching boxing. Ray Leonard, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield. And at times Roberto Duran.





Evander has undergone an MRI procedure on his left shoulder, and the MRI was analyzed today by two of the finest shoulder specialists in the country, Doctors Javier Duarte and Marvin Royster who have performed successful shoulder surgery on many athletes, including John Smoltz and Javier Lopez of the Atlanta Braves. The doctors have confirmed that the pain Evander experienced in the first round of his fight with Chris Byrd on Saturday night was caused by an acute tear in his rotator cuff, specifically the super spinatis tendon. Evander will have surgery to repair the tear on Saturday. We are hoping for a complete recovery, but will know more after the surgery.

It took great courage for Evander to fight eleven rounds without the ability to lift his left arm above chest level, and many fighters would have stopped the fight, but Evander did not want to disappoint the fans at the arena and on television and he has never stopped a fight in his life due to an injury, so he was committed to finishing the fight.

These facts are in no way intended to diminish Chris Byrd?s accomplishment in defeating Evander fairly and winning the IBF Heavyweight Championship of the World. Chris fought a great fight, proved he is a worthy champion, and deserves great respect and admiration. Evander makes no excuses and no one is suggesting that the outcome would necessarily have been any different had Evander not been injured. I am simply reporting the objective facts about the injury because so many peopled have asked why Evander threw almost no left jabs, threw no left hooks above the waist, tried to block Byrd?s jabs with his right hand, and tried to fight southpaw at one point. We feel that the boxing world is entitled to know the true facts, rather than be forced to speculate. --James J. Thomas II

 

[badjab]

wow...I've torn a rotator cuff before and let me tell you, it hurts to raise your arm a little much less throw punches. Pretty amazing.

 

[SMOKE JENSEN]

and a follow up article. amazing to me.






Holyfield: I will be back!
By Jim Thomas
Saturday morning, Evander Holyfield had successful surgery to repair his torn left rotator cuff. The doctors found substantial damage and removed two bone spurs that are likely to have caused chronic pain and to have contributed to the injury suffered in the first round of Evander's fight with Chris Byrd on December 14. Evander later confirmed that he has suffered with continuing problems with this shoulder over a course of years but simply learned to live with, and fight through, the pain. We arrived at Piedmont Hospital at 6:00 am, and Evander was in good spirits and was eager to put the surgery behind him and begin the healing process. The surgery, conducted by Drs. Duralde and Royster, with Evander's personal physician, Dr. Christopher Vaughns, observing. The surgical procedure began at 7:30 am and lasted a little over two hours. Immediately after the surgery was completed, the doctors told me that it had gone very well and that, with Evander's dedication and work ethic, after some extended hard work in physical therapy, they are hopeful that Evander will recover most, if not all, of the strength and range of motion of his shoulder. The other thing both doctors remarked upon was that, given the condition of the shoulder they had just observed, they were absolutely amazed that Evander had chosen to continue to try to fight and that continuing for eleven more rounds took almost superhuman courage and tolerance of pain. Evander will begin physical therapy in about two weeks. He has a mountain to climb to get back to where he was before the injury, but he is extremely determined and will do whatever is necessary to come back. There is no way to predict with certainty how fully or quickly Evander will recover, but we are all hopeful and optimistic that he will overcome this latest obstacle and prove once again that he is one of the greatest warriors in the history of boxing. Evander's message is simple: "I will be back."
12/21/2002

 

[THE KOD]

I admire his courage and his ability to fight through the pain of a rotator injury.

Not sure if you noticed but when he was interviewed after the fight he really seemed punch drunk and almost incoherant. I just wish he would hang it up and not end up with all his facalties.


Scott-Atlanta

 

[SMOKE JENSEN]

I'm afraid Evander dosen't have the Marvin Hagler mentality. He will not walk away. Lord knows he should have the money too. He has never been that well spoken. But it's getting worse. While I still think he's dangerous on any given night. I agree. Retire and wait on the hall of fame.

 

[gardenweasel]

unfortunately

unfortunately

i think we are looking at this generation`s muhammad ali......this story has to end badly...his family needs to intervene....i love evander,but,i am seriously worried he will step back in with another big,hard punching guy...one more with a tua,klitscko,lewis may be the straw that breaks this camel`s back....probably enough damage has already been done to impair his future quality of life.....

 

[THE KOD]

He will not walk away. Lord knows he should have the money too. He has never been that well spoken. But it's getting worse. While I still think he's dangerous on any given night. I agree. Retire and wait on the hall of fame.

He is just too proud to hang them up. He lives in a 55,000 sq ft mansion in fayetteville georgia. I installed a custom gate and electronics which is a mile and a half from the house. I was able to walk all over the house as it was being built. I went into the master bath and took a dump on the toilet. Something about having my ass where the champs ass would sit. .

Bowling ally, basketball court, huge jacuzzi, Huge pool shaped like a boxing glove. I met him once when he had his ex wife sign a check. I could live in the basement and be happy in luxury.

I just wish he would stop. He really dont need no more money.

Scott-Atlanta

 

[gardenweasel]

scott

scott

interesting post...i`m glad evander is well heeled...he richly deserves what he has...but,what does,"everybody has a pan until they get hit"?.....is that a cooking reference?...thanks

 

[THE KOD]

Re: scott

Re: scott

but,what does,"everybody has a pan until they get hit"?.....is that a cooking reference?...thanks

If you use a Mike Tyson voice when saying that line then you will understand it.

Someone else posted it in here as a Mike Tyson quote

"Everyone has a plan, until they get hit." I felt it was more realistic for Tyson to say it the other way, thus pan.

When you are hit hard in the kidney with a Lennox Lewis punch, how can you even begin to think about keeping your gloves up ?

Lewis is one of the few fighters skilled enought to stick to his plans and be able to beat a Mike Tyson.


Thats boxing the sweet science.



Scott-Atlanta