With a certainty born out of a lifetime's experience, one of the most respected voices in boxing has issued a chilling warning about the future of Evander Holyfield.
"Evander is playing with fire," said Emmanuel Steward, who, as Lennox Lewis' trainer, is a not entirely disinterested observer. "If I were his manager there is no way he would be in the ring. He should have retired after beating Tyson. The very thing which has propelled him to the heights, his ego, is now in danger of destroying him.
"It is history revisited. Muhammad Ali didn't know when to quit, and neither did Joe Louis. They both wound up getting hurt badly, and the same could happen to Evander. He says he wants to fight Lennox next, but I wouldn't let that happen if Evander had anything to do with me."
Not that Holyfield will listen. At 35, with two spectacular victories over Mike Tyson behind him, he argues that he is at the peak of his powers. The rewards for yet more hurrahs are immense. He is guaranteed a minimum of $20 million tomorrow as he attempts to add Michael Moorer's IBF title to the WBA crown he already holds - small beer compared to the rewards he can expect in the spring if, as he hopes, he faces Lewis, the WBC champion.
Holyfield talks a great deal about his goals: to gain revenge over Moorer, who outpointed him in 1994, to unify the world heavyweight title, and to use his fame to spread the Christian faith. Few sportsmen, George Foreman included, can ever have publicly praised the Lord as fervently as the Real Deal.
Yet doubts lurk over whether Holyfield can recreate the intensity of willpower and desire generated in the subjugation of Tyson.
"It was his defining moment," says Steward. "A wonderful example of ambition fulfilled. But people forget how bad he looked before, when he lost to Michael. First he said he had a bad heart, then a bad shoulder. And he looked finished when he was knocked out by Riddick Bowe.
"Tyson was the catalyst he needed. From the days when I trained him as an amateur back in '83, Evander always had this thing about Tyson. He had a thing about beating bullies and Tyson was a bully."
Tyson almost certainly will be a conspicuous absentee tomorrow night. Still banned from boxing for biting a lump out of Holyfield's ear, the former champion sounded no less troubled when he spoke on US television on Monday night. "I truly think everyone hates me," he said, adding that he feels "disgust, disdain and humiliation" whenever he watches tapes of the Holyfield fight. The two men have not met nor spoken since, though Holyfield's tom-cat torn ear is a visible reminder of that most desperate moment.
"I love him. I forgive him," Holyfield says. "I understand him. We're from the same background.
"Nobody around him is saying he was wrong and that he must say `Hey, I'm sorry for what happened'. At some point Tyson and I will come together and we will talk, but he shouldn't be pushed into it.
"If it takes 10 years we will meet and he will either apologise or say what he needs to, because it is what he wants to do. But it won't be because of the media.
"I feel good about Tyson. I respect everything that he does in the ring. My ear doesn't look too bad, and for two rounds' work my bank balance looks $35 million better."
Holyfield's ability to succeed in the face of adversity has been proven repeatedly. Rarely since the days of Ali can a braver fighter have ventured between the ropes. His trainer, Don Turner, ranks him alongside Ali and Larry Holmes as one of the three great post-war heavyweights.
"Ali had speed and reflexes, Holmes had that great jab and Evander has all-round fighting ability," he said. "Who is the best? It's a hard call."
"Evander has great willpower. The mind is the most important part of a fighter's body, and he has such incredible desire."
The Las Vegas odds-makers, who quote Holyfield as shortpriced as 3 to 1 on to emerge victorious, are apparently confident that he will make a less ham-fisted attempt to cope with Moorer's southpaw style this time.
"I had a bad day at the office," said Holyfield with a smile. "I'm only human and we all have those.
"But you have to adapt to win and I will. I am still learning and still improving. The day I cease to do so will be the day I get out.
"Michael is a talented fighter. I know I am going to have to come out and press the issue, setting the tempo immediately. I'm just happy to get a chance to redeem myself."
This week Holyfield has taken time to address high school children and to feature as the star turn in a religious rally in Las Vegas.
"My wife and I have a purpose in life," he says. "It's a crusade to help others and to spread the gospel. People can see for themselves my strength is Christ and the word of God.
"Fame and money can overtake you. A lot of people say, `Why don't you buckle under pressure?' The answer is I have trust in the Lord and my confidence comes from Him.
"They say Christians finish last. They say you can't be good and be first. I have proven that is wrong.
"Boxing is not about anger. I have love and compassion about the sport. I live that way and it shows in my performances."
Holyfield says God will not allow his health to deteriorate. Ali's plight will not be his. "Ali's God is not my God," he says emphatically when asked if the point has arrived in his career where the odds are mounting against his continued well-being.
He is not ready to retire - "there's no quit in me," - and he repeatedly looks ahead to the potential showdown with Lewis, arguing his motivation is "to prove I am the best man on the planet. And if we can put a fight with Lennox together, it would pretty well close out my career."
Yet, to use boxing's favoured idiom, there are question marks over his focus. His opponent may be better prepared. Steward sees a fire and desire in Moorer lacking since the early days of his career in Steward's Kronk Gymnasium in Detroit.
"Evander has to do everything possible to make this a toe-to-toe battle and get past Michael's righthand jab," said Steward, "and even then we don't know."
Guardian Service
