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02/24/2007 Archived Entry: "Laying on the Hurt in Houston"
Laying on the Hurt in Houston
By Karl Hegman
Photos by Topaz Lanz
Evander Holyfield (left) works the punch mitts in preparation for his bout against Vinnie Maddalone
IT seems that at long last Evander Holyfield will get the pitched battle that he has been waiting for on his comeback when he takes on tough Vinnie Maddalone (27-3, 19 KO’s) March 17th at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Flushing, New York slugger has one gear, which is straight ahead, and will be looking to add the great Evander to his collection of knockout victims. Maddalone is what we in the boxing fraternity commonly refer to as a “Winger.” He is very aggressive, a hard hitter, very strong, yet gets hit a lot in return and can be taken out himself.
The aforementioned qualities that Vinny possesses will make for a very explosive and exciting fight while it lasts when one takes into account Holyfield’s dynamic counterpunching abilities. Evander has long been considered one of the heavyweight division’s greatest counter punchers, and should have no real difficulty placing his shots inside Maddalone’s open guard.
One thing about this fight is for sure, it’s a safe bet to say that Maddalone won’t choose discretion over the better part of valor as did Evander’s last opponent, Fres Oquendo. In Maddalone, Holyfield is going to have a brawler who is going to walk into both of his gun barrels looking to land a homerun punch of his own. The exchanges should be fast and furious, and spilled blood and a knockout are virtually guaranteed in this fight fan friendly donnybrook that is to be aired on FOX Sports Net. The former four times Heavyweight Champion is taking nothing for granted in this upcoming fight and is training as hard as ever in his preparation at the Savannah Boxing Club and Youth Association in Houston’s Southwest side.
After a financially disastrous promotional affiliation with Murad Muhammad in his last outing, “The Real Deal” has reunited with Main Events as his promotional outfit as he feels that they have his best interests at heart. Holyfield appeared to be very fit and determined as he worked the pads with world-class trainer Ronnie Shields and then put in bag work and calisthenics during his training day. Heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn, Olympic hopeful Clarence Tillman, “Tough”, and Adam “Swamp Donkey” Richards (who is also fighting on the March 17th card) went through some fast and hard sparring, and Guinn wanted to clear the air concerning a recent published report that he turned down substantial money to fight Sultan Ibragimov after Shannon Briggs pulled out with an injury: “Their "substantial offer" was 20 grand. I'd fight him and whip him for 250 grand like his people were talking at first, but that offer of 20 thousand is ridiculous, and Ibragimov doesn’t want to fight me. I would like to fight Shannon as well. I sparred with him before and he has size, but I am at my best when fighting big guys like Michael Grant and Audley Harrison, and we all know Shannon has stamina issues. Shannon didn't fight Ibragimov because he couldn't find any southpaw sparring partners. I would whip either one of those guys, and they know it."
For the record; Guinn appeared extremely sharp and energetic in sparring and looked to be in fighting trim, as he wasn’t even breathing hard after the hectic sparring.
The WBA Lightweight Champion of the World (and the best lightweight in the world) Juan Diaz informed the CBZ that his fight with Acelino Freitas on April 28th was almost a done deal.
"It is almost a done deal, all we have to do is sign the papers. I can't wait to fight the guy, as I have wanted to fight him for a long time now. This will be my biggest payday, which will be 500 thousand dollars, but it gets really tough sometimes training and fighting and going to school. Don King books me for personal appearances around the country at times, and if I miss a day of college, it can be like missing a week."
The management and staff of the CBZ wishes this fine young Champion the very best of luck in his upcoming fight with the wild swinging and aging, but still dangerous slugger, Acelino Freitas. This writer predicts a big win for Diaz who is just too young, too strong, and too good at this point in his career for the Brazilian.
The younger half of the fighting Diaz brothers, featherweight Jose Diaz, has a fight on the under card of the March 17th bill as well. Diaz was working in the ring with Pablo Pena and was hitting very hard and moving well in the main ring in the hot gymnasium. The going was pretty rough in there when a sizzling right hand on the button by Diaz set up by a wicked hook underneath sent young Pena crashing to the canvas in a heap where trainer Jay Johns administered aid to his stricken fighter. Jose has improved at least by 25 percent since I have seen him last year and is evidently getting better by the week. 
Juan Diaz with Topaz Lanz
