By STEVE CARP
Evander Holyfield refuses to go away.
The former four-time heavyweight champion insists he still has the skills to regain the world title, though he's 47, last held a belt nearly 10 years ago and has lost two fights in a row.
"I've been hearing for a while that I can't do it," he said. "All it does is light a fire under me to prove people wrong.
"I can still fight. I don't want to leave until I've become the undisputed heavyweight champion one more time. That's been my goal the entire time."
If Holyfield can't beat 41-year-old Frans Botha tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center, he might as well leave the ring for good. But Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 knockouts) said this fight is a step toward meeting the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, who own three of the four titles.
"After I whup up on Botha, I want the Klitschkos," said Holyfield, who last won a heavyweight title Aug. 12, 2000, when he beat John Ruiz at Paris Las Vegas for the vacant WBA belt.
If Holyfield wins -- he's a 3½-1 favorite -- he'll do so largely in anonymity. By Friday afternoon, only 2,000 tickets had been sold, leaving promoter Crown Boxing, which is paying Holyfield $150,000 plus a pay-per-view percentage, to hope for a large walk-up crowd. Even $25 lower-bowl seats are going unsold.
Holyfield-Botha is also going head to head against a Top Rank card at the Hard Rock Hotel that has tickets priced as low as $20. There's also the Andre Berto-Carlos Quintana welterweight fight on HBO. And if that wasn't enough competition, there's UFC 112, a mixed martial arts card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, available on pay per view.
Read more at http://www.lvrj.com/sports/holyfield-fights-botha--doubters-in-ring-tonight-90463884.html
P.S.
Watch the boxing fight here: boxing fight
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