Gavin Evans Boxing
As Philip Holiday has discovered over the last year and a half, boxing is a game defined by paradox. How is it, he has been asking, that he has vanished into the pugilistic ether, whereas Ivan Robinson, a boxer he soundly outpointed, is fted as one of the major names in the lighter division? The answer is that you’re only as good as your last fight, or rather your last big fight.
During 1997 Holiday was briefly viewed as the class of the division.
His Home Box Office (HBO) victory over Robinson, which saw him throwing an astonishing 1E493 blows, brought rave reviews from the people wielding the chequebooks. American Broadcasting Corporation’s Bob Yalen said he was “one of the most under-rated fighters in the world today”, while HBO’s Lou DiBella called him “the sleeper at 61kg”.
On the undercard, however, was a fighting man of a higher order: Shane Mosley. Watching at ringside, it seemed clear to me that even on Holi-day’s finest night he had no chance of keeping the brilliant Sugar Shane from the title.
Mosley is simply one of the finest boxers I have ever watched. And so it was, seven months later, that Holiday returned to a state of frustrating obscurity. Not that he did badly, considering that Mosley has gone on to rival Roy Jones and Oscar de la Hoya as the “pound for pound” doyen of the sport – Holiday lost on points but managed to rough up the American in the middle rounds, which is more than anyone else has achieved.
Since then, however, he has watched Robinson return to glory with a pair of wins over former super featherweight champion Arturo Gatti, while he himself has been forced to mark time on the undercards. A trio of stoppage victories built his record to 34 wins (19 stoppages) against that one defeat, but at the age of 28 he could be forgiven for feeling that his career is sinking without trace.
Which is why he is viewing tomorrow’s (Saturday February 27) shot at Colin Dunne’s World Boxing Union (WBU) lightweight title, in Bethnal Green, London, as his chance for redemption.
For sure he is under no illusions that the low-rent WBU is a bauble of much significance, but at least it’s a “world” title of sorts and perhaps more to the point, Dunne (also 28) is a meaningful opponent. The tall Scouser is a classic boxer, capable of bursts of aggression and power, and owns a record of 28 wins (21 stoppages) in 29 outings.
The immediate comparison comes from their joint showing on another London bill on December 12. Dunne shone in despatching the French-based Turk Sedai Puskullu in three rounds. Holiday, weighing in at 4kg over the lightweight limit, disappointed in stopping Mexico’s Jos Luis Baltazar in seven rounds, taking rather too many blows himself in the process.
“If Dunne’s encouraged by what he saw – good,” reasons Holiday’s South African promoter, Rodney Berman. “Other than the fight with Mosley, Philip has been a boxer who has excelled on the big occasions, and he’s highly motivated because he realises if he loses there’s no way back, and without taking anything away from Dunne, Philip has fought in a different league.”
Throughout his eight-year professional career Holiday has managed to combine a genuine modesty with a strong sense of self-assuredness, which does not appear to have been too severely dented by the Mosley setback. Part of this is drawn from his fundamentalist religious faith. “I honestly believe that if the Lord wants me to box, and he has given me this talent, then I must box.”
The youngest of six children (five boys, one girl) he grew up in a close, comfortable, family in Benoni, did reasonably well at school, seldom got into trouble and avoided streetfights. “At high school I had one or two people who tried to cause trouble but I think I had only one fight. I was a very quiet person. My sister actually used to call me a nerd.”
For most fights a large family dele- gation, often including his father, twin brother Paul and wife Bree, accompany him. But it is his mother, Joyce, who is the backbone of the clan.
She told me that after Philip completed his military service and draftsman’s training, she prayed for days about his desire to box professionally, and was finally given an affirmative answer. As a blourokkie Pentecostal, she is never reticent about her faith and before most fights makes a point of reassuring everyone that her son will win because God has willed it.
God aside, the source of Holiday’s confidence is his approach to his profession. Particularly for his major fights, there are few boxers who can match him in the stamina department. In addition to his twice-a-day, six-times-a-week boxing training, he keeps in year-round shape as a keen amateur cyclist, canoeist and marathon runner and occasionally participates in triathlons.
“I do the triathlons and cycle races for fun, but at the same time it helps with the boxing. It’s great for the cardiovascular system and general fitness, and the cycling works a lot on the legs. When you get to 10th round and your legs get tired, that’s when the cycling helps.”
In his amateur days, when he was twice South African champion, he used to take two blows to land one, and even to date he is inclined to slip back into these old habits against lesser opponents.
I first got to know him when he served as Brian Mitchell’s sparring partner for Mitchell’s second, victorious bout against Tony Lopez in 1991.
“Through training with Brian all the time it was inevitable I would pick up his moves. He was a fantastic boxer, so anything he did, I’d try in the gym and that’s how my style developed.”
In this way, through Mitchell’s example, and Harold Volbrecht’s tuition, he gradually learned to slip, block, duck and parry.
In 1994, after a few American outings, he returned home to bowl over the South African lightweight champion Danny Myburgh in five rounds and soon after made the world ratings. However, it was only because of the cosy relations between his American promoter, Cedric Kushner, and the International Boxing Federation that he was granted a shot at the title, which had been vacated by De la Hoya.
When he’s up for a fight, he maintains a phenomenal work rate as a result of his exceptional stamina, and despite being smallish for the division (a slight, short- armed 1,7m) he has the strength to pressure an opponent for 12 rounds. He also possesses a solid chin, an impressive body- attack and a powerful will to win.
He says he is confident of relieving Dunne of his title though he won’t be drawn into predictions about how it will happen. He then hopes to cash in with some of the big names of the division – Mosley excluded. He has no immediate plans to retire but is refreshingly realistic about the subject.
It seems unlikely that this moment of decision is imminent. Dunne is certainly a capable boxer, but from what I’ve seen he falls a bit short of the world’s elite. It is possible that Holiday has slipped a bit over the past two years, but he is still likely to be a bit too strong, relentless and experienced for the WBU champion, and I expect him to prevail on a late-round technical knockout.
ENDS