Holyfield wants Jones, settles for Toney bout

NEW YORK -- At age 40, Evander Holyfield is making a personal declaration of independence, a statement that he won't let his career be controlled by promoters.

So when Don King demanded future options as Holyfield's price for a fight with WBA champ Roy Jones Jr., the four-time heavyweight champion turned elsewhere, taking an Oct. 4 match with IBF cruiserweight champ James Toney.

The fight, which will be broadcast on Showtime pay-per-view, does not have a site yet and won't do much for Holyfield's goal of holding boxing's most glamorous title again. But it will maintain his free agent status.

"I did say that I would only fight for belts," Holyfield said Tuesday. "They try to take advantage of my goal, the heavyweight championship. They don't want to pay me and they want to tie me into a long-term contract."

Holyfield wouldn't agree to that, even though he knows that at his age his opportunities at title fights may be dwindling.

"I'll wait in line and I'll get a chance," he said. "I'll be the champ, maybe not as quickly as I want to be. I may not get it when I want to, but I will get it."

If that happens, he doesn't want to be beholden to anyone, least of all King, who wanted control of Holyfield's future as an insurance policy.

"I don't feel I should have to sign long term for a title fight," Holyfield said. "I'd love to fight Roy Jones. The most important thing, though, is that I get treated fair. I'm not going to let somebody abuse me. I don't have to be abused. I will not be taken advantage of."

According to Jim Thomas, Holyfield's longtime adviser, the former champ was offered $8 million to fight Jones, who would have received $16 million. "That's $24 million out of a $44 million net based on 1.2 million pay-per-view buys," he said. "That leaves another $20 million. Where does that go?"

Klitschko will heal as he pursues Lewis rematch

The deep cuts on Vitali Klitschko's face are stitched up and just beginning to heal. He won't be able to fight again until late this year, at the earliest.

That didn't stop Klitschko from beginning another fight Tuesday -- to get Lennox Lewis back in the ring for a rematch both he and a lot of boxing fans believe he deserves.

"The rematch would be much bigger" for Lewis than Roy Jones, Klitschko said. "I hope the next fight will be against Lewis."

Klitschko, who may have won a lot more than he lost in Saturday night's fight, repeated his belief that the fight shouldn't have been stopped at the end of the sixth round because of a bad cut over his left eye.

-- From wire reports