"IT ALL comes down to how you handle pressure, Evander Holyfield said yesterday, looking forward to the defence of his World Boxing Association heavy-weight championship title against Mike Tyson in Las Vegas tomorrow night (Sunday 4 a.m. Irish time).
"We're equal in talent, equal in ability, equal in strength. But I think God has given me the pea, cc of mind to overcome pressure.
The oddsmakers, who currently have Tyson at 2-1 on to regain the title, are not convinced. But what do they, or any of us, know? Holyfield began the build-up to his astonishing victory here last November as a 25-1 outsider, odds that were reduced to a more realistic 7-1 on the day of the fight. In a poll of dozens of boxing critics, just one gave the nod to the notion of a Holyfield victory.
That man, Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, believes that Holyfield has enough ammunition to prevent Tyson from becoming only the fourth heavyweight to regain the world title in an immediate rematch with the man who took it from him. Holyfield in the seventh, says Borges, who has been dining out on his brave prediction for the past few months.
At yesterday's press conference, Tyson, a student of boxing history, was asked what he thought of the fight's standing alongside such celebrated rematches as Louis v Schmelling and Ali v Frazier? "There have been many great fights," he said calmly yesterday. "This has been built up as the greatest ever. I don't know about that."
What he meant was that, although the confrontation holds out the potential of being a classic, none of us will know the truth until Saturday night.
Tyson answered questions as briefly as he could manage without seeming rude. "I'm a professional," he said when asked about his mood going into the fight. "I don't get emotionally involved with anything. I'm here to win. I'm in better shape than I was last time, and I'm looking forward to beating him."
Had he identified a mistake in the first fight, and how did he propose to correct it? "Sure. I lost. That can be corrected by winning on Saturday."
Holyfield's unwillingness to stoop to the usual name-calling no doubt accounts for the relatively civilised pre-fight atmosphere. That, and the fact there is no need to whip up artificial interest in a fight all America wants to see.
The champion, badly underestimated by Tyson last time, knows that more will be required this weekend. "This is a new day," he said. "Mike and his team may have found a way to beat the man of November 9th, but I will be a different guy on June 28th."
Lacking neither realism nor confidence, Holyfield can afford a sense of destiny. "Tyson's tough," the champion said earlier this week, anticipating history's verdict. "He was everything that many people say he was. But I was more.
. Wayne McCullough's return to the ring has been postponed until August. The former world bantamweight champion had expected to box on July 19th in Chicago, but a new date and opponent will now be named.
Las Vegas-based McCullough has not boxed since losing a controversial split decision to veteran Mexican Daniel Zaragoza for the WBC super-bantamweight title in January.
