ADVISORY/Evander Holyfield Open Letter to the Boxing Media.

Sports Editors/Boxing Writers & Columnists

ADVISORY...

--(BW SportsWire)

MEMO TO:     Members of the Boxing Media

FROM:        Evander Holyfield

DATE:        March 31, 2000

As you know, I believe that the rules of the sanctioning bodies should be consistently applied to all fighters, including the current Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. I also believe that everyone in boxing should be made to honor their contractual commitments. I believe the three major titles should be unified if possible, and I certainly worked hard and sacrificed much to help unify the titles, but I believe that consistent application of the rules and enforcement of contractual commitments are more important principles than keeping the titles unified. Otherwise, anyone who unifies the titles can simply ignore the rules and breach his contractual commitments. When Lennox Lewis was the challenger, Lennox and his promoter argued vehemently that the rules and contractual commitments were more important than unifying the titles. Now that Lennox is the champion he should live by the same principles.

I realize that, even after you understand my position, you may not agree with me, but at least I would like you to consider with an open mind my reasoning. Whether you ultimately agree or not, I think you know that I truly love the sport of boxing and my position is based upon what I believe is best for the sport. I will first set forth some important facts that I believe are undisputed, and then I will explain my conclusions.

Undisputed Facts

1. I am personally familiar with what happens when the rules

regarding mandatory bouts are not consistently and equally

enforced by the rating organizations. In 1989, I was the mandatory

challenger for Mike Tyson's titles, but the organizations did not

enforce the rules and allowed me to be passed over so that Tyson

could fight Buster Douglas. Even then I had to fight to force the

organizations to follow their rules and not pass me over again.

Although I did eventually get to fight for the title, I lost my

chance to win a more prestigious bout against then-undefeated Mike

Tyson because the rules were not enforced. When I fought Buster

Douglas, I felt that I deserved more than a 25% split of the

purse, but I followed the purse bid rules and accepted 25%.

2. When Riddick Bowe defeated me in November of 1992, he became the

Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Lennox Lewis' promoter (and his

manager who works for his promoter) immediately insisted on

enforcement of the mandatory bout rules, insisting that Bowe be

stripped of his WBC Title if he did not fight the No. 1 contender

next. Rather than get stripped, Bowe vacated the WBC Title, which

allowed Lewis to become the WBC Champion for the first time.

3. After Lennox was knocked out by Oliver McCall, and Frank Bruno

beat McCall, and Tyson beat Bruno, Lennox's promoter and manager

again insisted that the mandatory rules be enforced. They insisted

that the WBC strip Tyson of his WBC Title if he did not fight

Lewis next, even though Tyson was trying to unify the WBC and WBA

Titles. Team Lewis went so far as getting a court order which

ultimately forced Tyson to vacate the WBC Title and allowed Lennox

to become the WBC Champion the second time.

4. When I beat Tyson to win the WBA Title, I began my efforts to

re-unify the three major titles and once again become the

Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. I fought Michael

Moorer in November of 1997 and added the IBF Title to my WBA

Title. I was then told that my WBA mandatory defense was due in

June of 1998 and that if I failed to fight the WBA No. 1

challenger by that deadline, I would be stripped. Despite the fact

that the No. 1 challenger was Henry Akinwande and that he was an

unattractive opponent having been disqualified for refusing to

fight, and despite the fact that I could make much more money

fighting someone else, I signed to fight Akinwande in June of 1998

because that was the rule, and I wanted to unify the titles. To

keep the belt, I had to follow the rules.

5. When Akinwande became unavailable, I was told that my IBF

mandatory bout was due no later than November 9, 1998, and if I

did not fight the IBF mandatory bout by that date I would be

stripped. I was not allowed to have an extension. Despite the fact

that the No. 1 challenger was lightly-regarded Vaughn Bean and

despite the fact that fighting him cost me many millions of

dollars, I agreed to follow the rules, because I wanted to unify

the titles, and I did not want to be stripped. To keep the belt, I

had to follow the rules.

6. After the Bean fight, I wanted to fight Lennox to unify all of the

titles, but the WBA mandatory obligation was overdue. The WBA

agreed to allow the unification bout on the condition that both

Lennox and I agree to fight the WBA mandatory bout next or vacate

the WBA Title. I made that commitment, and it is my understanding

that Lennox did too. After the controversial draw decision in my

first fight with Lennox, the WBA agreed to delay the WBA mandatory

bout again and allow an immediate rematch, but only if both Lennox

and I agreed to fight the WBA mandatory bout next or vacate the

WBA Title.

7. Lennox was declared by the judges to be the winner of the rematch.

If I had been declared the winner, I would have honored my

commitment and would have followed the rules. Lennox decided to

take a more lucrative fight, not honor his commitment, and not

follow the rules.

Conclusions

1. First, I want everyone to understand that the positions set forth

in this memorandum are my own. No one makes decisions for me, and

I do what I decide is the right thing to do. Jim Thomas helped me

write these views down, but they are my views.

2. Second, it has been suggested that the rules of the organizations

should be ignored if the organizations do not rank the fighters

properly. That suggestion has two problems: (a) It allows fighters

and their promoters to decide whether rankings are proper, which

amounts to allowing the self-interested fighters and promoters to

unilaterally decide whether to follow the rules or not. That is

the same as no rules at all; (b) If the ratings are not correct,

then the thing to do is put pressure on the organizations to do a

better job of rating the fighters without improper influences. The

solution to bad ratings is not to ignore the rules, but rather to

improve the ratings. Two wrongs do not make a right.

3. Third, the mandatory rules are not bad rules. They are good rules

that serve a very useful purpose in prohibiting a champion from

ducking the best challengers. If the problem is inaccurate

ratings, it is not the mandatory rules that are wrong but instead

the application of the rules to the inaccurate ratings. The

solution is not to ignore the rules, but instead to improve the

ratings. If the organizations cannot gain the confidence of the

public, then another way of rating the fighters must be found,

preferably one body, not two or three. I do not object to someone

coming up with a better and fairer way of rating fighters, but I

think we need to find the replacement before we get rid of what we

have or we will have worse problems than we have now. Until we

have a substitute, we need to direct our attention to forcing the

organizations to do a better job, and if the people in there now

can't or won't do the job right, we need new people.

4. It is fundamentally unfair for a fighter and his promoter/manager

to vehemently insist on enforcement of the mandatory rules when

that is convenient, but refuse to follow the rules when that is

convenient. Team Lewis has benefited greatly from enforcement of

the mandatory rules, but now wants to ignore those rules. Lennox

became WBC Champion twice because of his promoter's insistence on

enforcement of the rules.

5. The only reason the three major titles are unified right now is

because I personally sacrificed by following the rules at great

cost so that the titles could be unified. Some of you have argued

that Lennox should not have to lose one of his titles so soon

after working so long and hard to unify all three titles. The fact

is that the reason why Lennox is the Undisputed Heavyweight

Champion today is that I worked and sacrificed to put those titles

together by following rules and honoring the commitments Team

Lewis is now refusing to follow and honor.

6. Quite aside from the issue of following the mandatory rules, there

is the issue of making a commitment and not honoring it. If boxing

is to regain public confidence and credibility, everyone involved

must honor his contractual commitments, starting with the

Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

7. I want and intend to become once again the Undisputed Heavyweight

Champion of the World. It is not my goal to have Lennox stripped

of one of his titles so that I can fight for it. My goal is to win

back all of the titles, so I have no interest in having the titles

split up. My position is that, for boxing to be the great sport it

can be, the rules need to be enforced consistently and commitments

need to be honored. That is even more important than trying to

keep the titles unified. Lennox's decision to fight Michael Grant

is not necessarily the wrong thing to do for Lennox, but it should

have consequences. Lennox agreed to fight the WBA's mandatory

challenger next or voluntarily give up the title. Maybe he should

not have made that commitment if he did not intend to honor it.

But he did make it, so he should honor it.

8. I plan to fight John Ruiz in my next fight because he is the

highest rated fighter in both the WBA and the WBC. The other two

highest rated fighters are Michael Grant and David Tua. Michael is

unavailable, and I understand that Tua is not going to fight a

top-rated fighter until he gets his overdue mandatory title fight.

Therefore, fighting Ruiz is the best fight available for me and

puts me in the best position to accomplish my goal of becoming

once again the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

9. As you know, Don King Productions has the rights to promote my

fights, but neither Don King nor DKP has any control whatsoever

over me, and I have no control over them. DKP is in a lawsuit with

Team Lewis over Team Lewis' contractual promise to DKP regarding

Lennox's obligation to fight the WBA mandatory contender or

voluntarily vacate the WBA title. I am not involved in that suit.

If, as a result of that suit, Lennox is ordered to give up his WBA

Title and if the WBA then decides to sanction my fight with Ruiz

as a WBA Title fight, I will proceed according to those rulings,

but as I have said, that would merely be one step toward my real

goal of winning back all of the titles. If the Ruiz fight is not a

WBA Title fight, I will fight Ruiz for the mandatory position in

the WBA and the WBC. Either way, I will move closer to my goal of

leaving the sport of boxing as the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion

of the World.

10. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope you can see that my

positions are based upon principles and what I personally believe

is best for boxing in the long run, which is consistent and equal

enforcement of the rules and honoring commitments.

If you have any questions or want to discuss this, please call Jim Thomas at 404/527-4170, because I am currently in training for my fight with John Ruiz. If you want to talk directly to me, ask Jim to set it up at a time when it will not interfere with my training.