Evander allegedly demanded to see the checkbook to make sure
that his wife was donating enough money to the church because God apparently
needs a lot of money, and when she refused, he hit her numerous times. She
had reportedly applied for a restraining order, but has since dropped it.
This is not out of the ordinary behavior for Holyfield. He is
one of the dirtiest fighters ever to lace up the gloves, yet he continuously
shoves this religious nonsense down the throats of the viewer. Thank God he
got rid of Hammer. I could only hear the song “Pray” 10 dozen times before I
lost my lunch as he walked his buddy to the ring.
You really have to question the character of Holyfield. His
actions alone prior to this lend credibility. His refusal to pay child
support, until he was force to by threat of imprisonment and his continual
and flagrant fouls inside the ring tell me all I need to know about him.
Many point to Mike Tyson as the problem when they faced each other in the
rematch during that “ear bite heard around the world” incident, but people
gloss over the fact that Tyson was getting head butted over and over and
over again. It was justified.
Money talks and now Holyfield is out of the hot water.
Unfortunately, this seems to be the common path of many beaten women. They
file and then recant and that is yet again the case here. There aren’t many
things worse than a wife beater.
Drugs
Former WBC Heavyweight Champion, Oliver “Atomic Bull” McCall
has been picked up again for drugs. He was scheduled to take on Zuri
Lawrence in his next fight, a bout that has been called off due to the
circumstances, and now he has a bigger fight ahead of him.
McCall had all the makings of a good heavyweight, possibly a
great one. He possessed a big punch and a granite chin. He made a reputation
for himself because of his heated sparring sessions with then champion, Mike
Tyson, but he earned a shot at the WBC Crown himself in 1994 against the
highly touted, undefeated “Lion” Lennox Lewis.
In the second round, McCall unleashed a big right hand that
sent the British heavyweight to the floor and out of the fight. McCall had
realized a dream and was now in a position to make some big waves in boxing,
but he could not get his personal life in order. He would lose the title
shortly thereafter to Frank Bruno, and would have a mental breakdown in a
rematch with Lennox Lewis.
The rematch in 1997 was a window into the inner turmoil that
is the life of McCall. Frustrated, McCall began to lose it and allowed Lewis
to hit him without a defense. He just stood there and took the punishment,
walking away from time to time. His head was not in the fight. A testament
to the chin of McCall was how he took the best shots of Lewis unprotected
and wasn’t moved. What he could have been had he not had any problems.
The fight was stopped as McCall began to sob. Despite
comments later on that he was playing with Lewis and baiting him in, it was
obvious that he had some major problems. Don King took the wrap…an easy
scapegoat…but the problems lie with the Atomic Bull.
In 2006, he would be picked up by police with cocaine and a
glass pipe in his possession, and, according to reports, he threatened to
kill the officers. Arrests for disorderly conduct and failed stints in rehab
turned a potentially great fighter into an unstable and unreliable head
case.
Oliver McCall was and seems to always be a step or two away
from a title shot. He compiled a record of 26-2, 17 KO’s, since his defeat
to Lennox Lewis in 1997, and recently put three wins together against
relatively decent opposition. With his name value and checkered past, he was
likely to get another crack, especially when you consider that he was one of
the two men that hold a victory over the last great heavyweight, Lennox
Lewis.
Now we await to see how this latest arrest is handled. He was
found with cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also in
violation of parole, and it now seems that he will be going away for a
while.
The career of Oliver McCall as a viable heavyweight contender
is over and perhaps his career too is now at its end. He will most likely go
down in history as the first man to beat Lennox Lewis and one of Mike
Tyson’s best sparring partners, which is a shame, because he could have been
much more.
