Even though he's made the news multiple times in the past year for his failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of child support, Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs) somehow has enough money for lawyers.
Holyfield filed suit in Los Angeles against an auctioneer on Thursday to block the sale of 20 out of the 450 personal items and pieces of memorabilia currently scheduled for a late November auction.
Some of the items in dispute came from the former World Heavyweight Champion's Georgia mansion that recently went into foreclosure. The auctioneer insists Holyfield fully consented to the sale and already received a significant advance on the deal.
Holyfield's lawyers argue that the foreclosure and other financial and career issues had the former champ confused and distracted when he agreed to sell the items he now claims he is intent on keeping to hand down to the next generation of his family.
The auction is currently set for November 30th, and there is no word as to what the lawsuit might do to change that final sale date. Some of the items up for purchase include: fight-worn gloves, trunks and boots; gold and diamond watches; luxury vehicles; and Holyfield's Olympic Bronze Medal.
Among the items Holyfield wants to be pulled from the sale are Championship belts he won in 1993, robes he wore in the Olympics and a Father of the Year award. The latter item seems the most ironic considering "The Real Deal" can't keep up with child support payments for some of his 11 children born to five different mothers.
The lawsuit maintains that Holyfield must consent to the auction of all items before they can be sold, and the complaint insists the disputed items should be returned immediately. Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien’s Auctions, said that his company received permission from Holyfield to list the items for sale and put out a press release earlier this year confirming Holyfield's approval.
Julien also explained that his company worked for months to plan and organize the sale. Julien also reported that Holyfield received an advance of hundreds of thousands of dollars just for agreeing to sell the items.
The legal paperwork claims that removing these items from the auction would only cause the auction outfit minor financial harm while the damage to Holyfield would be "overwhelming and irreparable" if the sale were to go forward with the contested items still included.
In cases like this the balance of harm done by a court's intervening is always weighed first. If Holyfield can convince the judge he will be hurt more than the auctioneer by the items going forward to sale, he should come out on top of this dispute.
If Holyfield did indeed agree at one point to sell the pieces he now wants back, it wouldn't be the first time he changed his mind on a major decision. Holyfield told TMZ last month that he would never box again, but after multiple other news outlets confirmed his intent to retire he had a change of heart.
Despite recently turning 50-years-old, the man famous for having a piece of his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson still apparently wants another crack at a world title.
"I already told people that I was going to retire, but this morning, when I woke up, I thought about it some more, and now I'm not going to retire," said Holyfield around a week after promising he would formally announce his retirement at his 50th birthday party on October 19.
The future hall of fame boxer previously said he wanted to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion before hanging up the gloves, but lately he can't seem to get any champion to take a fight with him.
Both Klitschko brothers hold most of the available major world title belts, and both refuse to fight Holyfield because they admire and respect him. It's hard to imagine him getting any title fight booked anytime soon. Outside of a courtroom, Holyfield hasn't had a fight since scoring a TKO against Brian Nielsen in May of 2011.
