Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield says he wants to retire undefeated after fighting all the key boxers of his era.
Only time will tell whether he'll remain unbeaten throughout his career, but it appears he won't be fighting one of the best of the era - former champion Mike Tyson.An Indianapolis jury convicted Tyson on Monday of raping a contestant in the Miss Black America beauty pageant. Holyfield's promoter, Dan Duva, said it would be "absolutely reprehensible" to allow Tyson to fight for the title while the former champion remains free on any appeal of his conviction.
Holyfield and Tyson were to have fought last Nov. 8. That bout was postponed when Tyson injured his ribs.
"My goal hasn't been just to fight Mike Tyson," Holyfield said Tuesday during a news conference at his lawyer's office in Atlanta. "It was something I felt the public wanted to see. It's sad the public won't see the two best boxers of the era."
A Holyfield-Tyson fight would have been a multimillion-dollar event, one that would have made Holyfield extremely wealthy.
"You can't base your life about money," Holyfield said. "I'd feel bad to want a man to get off because of money."
Holyfield said he's now thinking about his third title defense some time in late May or early June, probably against either Riddick Bowe or George Foreman.
Holyfield expressed confidence he would beat Tyson if such a fight ever took place. "I feel I'm smarter than the average person in the ring. I feel like I would have (beaten Tyson), but we'll never know."
Tyson lost his title to Buster Douglas exactly two years before Monday's rape conviction. Holyfield then took the title away from Douglas and has successfully defended it twice - against Foreman and Burt Cooper, the eventual replacement on the November card that was to have been Tyson.
After the Cooper fight, Holyfield hinted that he might soon consider retirement.
"I could be here four or five more years," he said Tuesday. "People change their minds. When it's time to retire, I should go ahead and do it, not just talk about it. My goal is to retire undefeated, but fight all the fighters in my era."
Holyfield was asked if Tyson's conviction put boxing in a bad light.
"It's not a black eye on the game," Holyfield said. "It's a black eye to the person. He just happened to be a boxer."
Duva expressed his opinion earlier in the day on Tuesday.
"Our sport and our business has enough black eyes and enough negative things written about it," Duva said. "It would be absolutely reprehensible to have a person convicted of the violent crimes Mike Tyson has been convicted of, to allow him to fight for the most cherished crown in the sport."
Tyson remains free on $30,000 bond pending sentencing March 6. There is a chance he could remain free after sentencing while his conviction is appealed.