Evander Holyfield, seeking to capture the world heavyweight title for a fifth time, continued his comeback bid last night with a 12-round unanimous decision over Puerto Rican Fres Oquendo in San Antonio in Texas last night.
In front of a partisan crowd of 10,133 at the Alamodome, Holyfield earned the decision on two judges' cards by 114-113, while a third saw it 116-114 for the 44-year-old ex-champion.
Holyfield took his record to 40 wins, eight defeats and two draws, with 26 wins by knockout.
He knocked Oquendo to the canvas less than one minute into the fight. But the bout settled into a series of jabs, dances, and clinches which left lingering questions about whether Holyfield still possesses the thundering power which helped keep him a force in heavyweight boxing over his 20-year pro career.
Many fans in the crowd later booed the lack of sustained action as Holyfield battled a journeyman fighter 11 years his junior.
Holyfield, looking refreshed following the victory, blamed Oquendo's boxing style for the tone of the fight.
'It takes two people to fight,' he said. "Realistically, it would have been beautiful if I had got him out in the first round, but now there's nobody who can say 'he can't go 12' because I went 12."
Oquendo took advantage of his longer reach to skip out of the range of Holyfield's blows, and used his age advantage to dance around the older boxer.
Referee Laurence Cole twice cautioned Holyfield, including in the sixth round when a low blow caused Oquendo to crumple to the canvas.
'This guy was moving back so fast that I actually had to leap at him to hit him,' Holyfield said.
'Other times I got headbutted when he led with his head. It was clear this guy was just trying to not get knocked out.'
Despite the unimpressive victory, Holyfield's promoter, Murad Muhammad, said the current heavyweight champions, all of whom hail from the former Soviet Union, would 'make a big payday' and take on Holyfield.
'We feel that the price will go up tremendously, because Evander Holyfield is known throughout the world,' Muhammad said.
The ring veteran ended a 21-month layoff in August by stopping Jeremy Bates in the second round. He improved his career record to 40-8 with two draws and 26 knockouts with Friday's win.
'I'm not terribly impressed with myself,' Holyfield conceded. 'But I got the job done and I'm thankful.'
Oquendo, now 26-4 with 16 knockouts, is also on the comeback trail after losing world title fights to Chris Byrd in 2003 and John Ruiz in 2004.
The 33-year-old from Chicago did not fight for 22 months before winning two fights earlier this year.
