By James Slater: Evander Holyfield is having to put up a lot of his prized possessions due to his financial problems (he recently had to sell his Georgia mansion for $7.5 million), and the late Angelo Dundee’s vast collection of ring treasures will also go for sale at another auction soon.
Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports how Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard memorabilia will go on sale – some of the seemingly priceless items being Ali’s gloves from the first amazing fight with Sonny Liston, “The Greatest’s” gloves from his losing fight with Joe Frazier, and Leonard’s gloves from the astonishing “No Mas” fight with Roberto Duran – while Bloomberg.com reports how “The Real Deal” will be selling off items including his 1984 Olympic bronze medal and the gloves he wore in the infamous “Bite Fight” with Mike Tyson.
Needless to say, a number of these items will fetch serious money (Some of the money raised from the Dundee auction will be donated to the Muhammad Ali Foundation), and hopefully, Evander’s money worries will be put to rest courtesy of some rich collectors. It’s sad that Holyfield, approaching 50 and still harbouring ideas of fighting again, is having to sell off items he had to sweat and bleed for (quite literally bleed for in the case of the gloves from the Tyson DQ fight!), but on Twitter, Evander wrote that it makes him happy that his memorabilia will be available to the public and “not in a wardrobe, seen by no-one.”
The Ali and Leonard treasures will likely attract the most attention, however. Some lucky (rich) fan will, later this year, own some amazing and important pieces of boxing history. How much do you reckon Ali’s gloves from the unforgettable “Fight of The Century” will go for?!
The Holyfield auction will take place on November 30th, the Ali and Leonard auction will begin on Nov. 9th.