Four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield has been put on indefinite medical suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission. The move comes after the 42-year-old's unanimous points loss to Larry Donald at Madison Square Gardens on Saturday.
"It's the commission's responsibility to save a boxer from himself," commission chairman Ron Stevens told the New York Daily News.
"To my practised mind, Holyfield shouldn't be fighting any more."
Holyfield has a 38-8 career record, but is only 2-5 with two draws in his last nine bouts.
If he wants to fight again anywhere in the United States, he will need to gain clearance from commission physician Barry Jordan, but Holyfield says he has no intention of quitting yet.
"Why do they want to usher me out?" he said.
"What have I done to this game that they don't want me in it anymore?
"Do you really care about a person so much that you want to protect him from himself?
"There isn't that much love in the world to go against a person's will," he insisted.
MMIX
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Fallen warrior