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Holyfield shrugs off Lewis accusation
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lennox Lewis says Evander Holyfield doesn't practice what he preaches."He says he's religious, but he's a hypocrite," Lewis said of the man he hopes to beat for the undisputed heavyweight championship March 13 in an already sold-out Madison Square Garden.
Lewis was referring to Holyfield's public admission last October that he has fathered five children out of wedlock with four women and that he provides financially for them. Holyfield also has three children with his first wife and one with his second.
"It doesn't bother me," Holyfield said by telephone Tuesday from Houston, where he training. "What he saying is I made some mistakes. If I ca be heavyweight champion of the world and make mistakes, why can't I be a man of God and make mistakes? "Why can't I clean myself and get back up?
"What he's trying to do is psyche himself up," Holyfield said of the accusations made Monday by Lewis at his training camp at a resort hotel near Scot Run, Pa.
The fight is much more a must-win match for Lewis, the 33-year-old WBC champion from Britain, than it is for the 36-year-old Holyfield, IBF-WBA champion.
Lewis, who has fought in the shadows of Holyfield and Mike Tyson, feels he had not received his due, especially from the U.S. boxing media and American fans.
"I think this is going to be the definitive fight for Lennox Lewis," Lewis said.
"This has to be my biggest fight because it's an upcoming fight," said Holyfield, who has been in several big matches, including his two wins over Tyson, and whose place in boxing history is secure.
"It's coming to a point where I'm about finished," Holyfield said, then he quickly added that he doesn't plan for this bout to be his last.