Holyfield, now 46, lost his last fight, a 12-round unanimous decision loss to heavyweight Sultan Ibragimov in October 2007. Holyfield was never competitive and lost almost every round to the Russian Ibragimov. The problems that effected Holyfield on that night, namely his lack of speed, an inability to pull the trigger and slowed reflexes, were a mirror of the same problems that he experienced in consecutive losses to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald in 2002 to 2003.
Following those losses, Holyfield was reportedly banned from boxing in New York by the New York State Athletic Commission because of “diminished skills.” Holyfield would then take two years off, healing his injured shoulder which had hampered him since the Byrd fight. After he made his comeback in 2006, Holyfield looked good beating moderately good opponents Fres Oquendo, Vinny Maddalone and Lou Savarese.
At the time, it was hard to tell whether Holfyfield had regained some of his lost skills after recovering from his shoulder injury or if he was merely looking good due to the lower level of his opposition. Whatever the case, Holyfield looked bad in losing to Ibragimov and not like the same fighter that had beaten Oquendo, Maddalone and Savarese.
Valuev, 35, regained his World Boxing Association heavyweight title with a 12-round decision over John Ruiz in September. Valuev has previously lost his WBA title to Ruslan Chagaev in a controversial 12-round decision in April 2007. However, Valuev was unable to land a rematch with Chagaev, who has suffered both illnesses and injuries, wiping out rematches with Valuev.
At 7-feet 320 lbs, Valuev presents a huge obstacle for the 6’2” Holyfield to deal with. Valuev will be enjoying over a 100 pound weight advantage over Holyfield when they step foot in the ring in December. Holyfield weighed a skinny 211 in his last fight, which will be putting him at a big disadvantage against the bear-like Valuev. Holyfield’s speed advantage won’t matter much if he doesn’t let his hands go, a problem that he suffered in his last fight against Ibragimov, as well as in his losses to Byrd, Toney and Donald.
