Larry Donald Pounds out a Decision Win over Holyfield

11.13.04 - By Rev. Marc Axelrod: The Real Deal needs to pack it in. Larry Donald beat Evander Holyfield all over the ring tonight. Holyfield looked every one of his 42 years, as he was outfought and outsped all night long. Donald stood his ground and consistently landed left-right combinations. He even shook Holyfield in the 8th round and 9th rounds, and it looked briefly as if Larry Donald could win by TKO. But Holyfield hung in there, and landed a terrific overhand right in the 10th round that shook Donald. It was the one round of the fight that you could reasonably score for Holyfield. But Evander did not have the energy to follow up. He stunned Larry again with an overhand right in round 11, but that was all had left in the tank. All three judges had Donald ahead by wide margins: 119-109 twice and 118-109.

But the saddest part of the evening was the post fight interview when Larry Merchant asked Evander Holyfield if he would fight on, and Evander said, "Why not?"

For Donald, this win puts him back in the heavyweight mix. He landed 260 punches to 78 for Holyfield. It was certainly the most animated and aggressive Donald has looked in many years.

But for Evander, this certainly looks like the end of the road. Let us hope that Evander will soon see it that way, too.