NO HOLDS BARRED: A Tale of Two 44-Year-Old Heavyweights

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman discusses the recent controversies involving two 44-year-old heavyweight fighters and former world champions: boxer Evander Holyfield and mixed martial arts fighter Randy Couture.

 

Holyfield just dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Moscow, Russia, this past Saturday, October 13. Many are now calling for the obvious, for Holyfield, who turns 45 this coming Friday, to retire. But many in the American boxing media were just this past week telling us that Holyfield actually stood a real chance to win in this fight.

 

Couture announced last week that he was quitting the UFC and vacating his heavyweight title there. His main beefs were that top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko had just signed with another promotion, M-1 of Russia, and that he was not being compensated fairly and had been told he was the second-highest paid fighter in that company when he had heard directly from other fighters that he was not.

 

In another no-holds-barred commentary, we discuss what all this says about the sycophantic media which covers both sports, the future of boxing and its beleaguered heavyweight division, and the future of UFC now that it has abruptly lost perhaps its most popular fighter of all time.

 

(Note: This edition of NO HOLDS BARRED includes some explicit language.)

 

Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

 

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

If you want to leave a comment on the show, you can do so at the NO HOLDS BARRED blog.

 

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

 

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

 

Art of War, the undisputed arena fighting championship, promoted by SUN Sports and Entertainment, producing world class mixed martial arts events. For more information, check out their web site, ArtOfWarLive.com.

 

IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. You can also catch IFL Battleground on MyNetworkTV. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

 

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

 

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

 

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

 

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

 

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

 

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