In what is surely his last chance at a world title belt, the amazing Evander Holyfield, 42-8-2 (27), will be in action tonight at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia mounting a challenge to WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov, 21-0-1 (17).
Six days shy of his 45th birthday, Holyfield brings along a mountain of past achievements in the ring against Ibragimov along with a four fight win streak over the likes of Lou Savarese, Vinny Maddalone, Fres Oquendo and Jeremy Bates over the last 14 months.
“The Real Deal” has proven that he can still wade through good second tier talent but will he have enough left in the tank to unseat the 32 year old Ibragimov?
The Russian southpaw put in the best performance of his career to largely handcuff WBO titlist Shannon Briggs this past June and looks to be far too mobile for Holyfield to handle.
But if Ibragimov decides to stand and fight the living legend, we may yet see a world title belt around Holyfield’s waist as the Atlanta native can still punch with authority and fight hard in concentrated bursts.
In the chief support bout, Jose Navarro, 26-2 (12), and Dimitri Kirilov, 28-3 (9), go head to head for the vacant IBF Super Feather title.