TELL HOLYFIELD HE CAN'T, HE'LL SHOW YOU HE CAN.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

You can't. I can. You won't. I will. You shouldn't. I must.

If such verbal toe-to-toes between doubt and determination are the soul of sports, then the rock of an athlete sitting across a plate of fettuccini in a Sherman Oaks restaurant one recent lunch hour might be the quintessential sportsman.

According to Evander Holyfield's memory - which, since you're wondering, seems to remain sharp - it has been a decade now that people have told him he can't, he shouldn't, he won't.

``People started telling me to retire in '92, after I got beat by Riddick Bowe,'' Holyfield said, referring to the 12-round decision that cost him the undisputed heavyweight championship he'd won from Buster Douglas. ``At that time I was 30. They didn't say I was too old. But they said, `The guy (Bowe) is four years younger than you, and he's bigger than you, and you've got all the money you need.' ''

A year later, Holyfield avenged his first loss and took back the WBA and IBF titles in a majority decision over the younger and bigger Bowe.

The talk started up again, though, after he lost to Michael Moorer (1994), was diagnosed with a heart problem, and came back from that scare only to absorb the lone knockout defeat of his career against Bowe ('95).

``They said, `Oh, he's just too old,' '' said Holyfield, in town to promote his non-title fight against James Toney at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night. ``Then I beat (Mike) Tyson, and they didn't say `old' no more.' ''

That victory in '96 regained him the WBA belt.

It quieted his millions of advisors only temporarily.

``Then there was the first Lennox Lewis fight,'' Holyfield said, ``and there was a commentator who put it in everybody's mind that `Evander's got old overnight.' ''

The controversial draw in New York in 1999 allowed him to keep the WBA and IBF titles.

It kept the well-meaning experts at bay for eight months.

``Then there was the second Lennox Lewis fight,'' Holyfield said, ``and I didn't get the decision, but I redeemed myself.' ''

And on it has gone, right up until he out-pointed John Ruiz in 2000 to win the WBA belt and become the first four-time winner of a heavyweight championship, right up to now as the 40-year-old Holyfield prepares to face the 35-year-old Toney in a fight he hopes will set up another title shot.

``Don't be late,'' said Toney, the IBF cruiserweight champion, predicting he'll knock out Holyfield within seven rounds.

Holyfield smiled as if he's been underestimated a dozen times, which he has, at least.

We wouldn't be having this conversation if Evander Holyfield of Atlanta had gone into, say, football, where front offices typically tell men like this it's time to hang 'em up. But the base instincts of the boxing marketplace don't mind that Holyfield has beaten only one opponent in the past three years (Hasim Rahman) and hasn't knocked one out in nearly six (Moorer).

As long as Holyfield wants to climb into the ring, and as long as he proves able to walk out, there's likely to be a pay-per-view audience to enable him.

I've heard Holyfield on days when his speech seems worryingly slurred. I heard him Monday when he sounded as clear as a ring bell.

``I've gone from the ghetto to the lifestyle I have now because there's been resistance,'' he said of the skepticism he faces and the way it empowers him. ``People who were born with everything wind up having more problems than people who have nothing, because they have nothing to make them strong. (To hear) people just say I ought to sit down, you would think I'm the worst guy in boxing, that I add nothing to the game.

``I'm not getting beat up. I'm not getting knocked out. I don't do terrible things to my body. So I'm able to do things other people can't do.''

A young man fights for the adrenaline rush, for the thrill of the knockout, for the macho ego gratification. A mature man looks for grander rewards.

``This fight sets things up for my next fight to be a possible championship fight. I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world again before I retire,'' Holyfield said. ``So my career could be over next year.''

Until then he's doing what boxing allows an athlete to do better than maybe any other sport, to show he can, he must, he will.

James Toney said he looks forward to knocking out ``a legend.''

Evander Holyfield said: ``But legends are dead. I'm not dead.''

SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

AT MANDALAY BAY, LAS VEGAS

Evander Holyfield, Atlanta, vs. James Toney, Sherman Oaks, heavyweights, 12 rounds

Diego Corrales, Sacramento, vs. Joel Casamayor, Cuba, junior lightweights, 12

Cruz Carbajal, Mexico, vs. Gerardo Espinoza, Mexico, bantamweights, 12, for Carbajal's WBO title

AT STAPLES CENTER

Erik Morales, Mexico, vs. Guty Espadas, Mexico, super featherweights,12

Carlos Hernandez, Bellflower, vs. Steve Forbes, Portland, Ore., junior lightweights, 12, for Hernandez' IBF title

Rafael Marquez, Mexico, vs. Mauricio Pastrana, Colombia, bantamweights, 12, for Marquez's IBF title

Edgar Cardenas, Mexico, vs. Daniel Reyes, Colombia, light flyweights,12, for Cardenas' IBF title

CAPTION(S):

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Box: SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS (see text)