At the age of 43 and fresh off of an embarrassing comeback attempt, Evander Holyfield wants to get back in the ring. After his last fight, the state of New York was indefinitely suspended for “poor performance,” which means that the New York boxing officials didn’t feel like he could get in the ring and prevent himself from being beaten into a coma.

But he protested the decision, passed some medical tests, and now, the state of Texas is letting him fight. And I’d love to poke fun, but it’s just too sad. Boxers, moreso than any other athletes, can’t turn the page. They can’t walk away when it’s time. Not speaking of Evander specifically, but when a guy becomes a boxer, it’s usually because he has to; he doesn’t have a lot of other options. And it becomes all they know, all they depend on, and a life that doesn’t involve boxing gets more and more distant. A lot of them seem unable to adjust to the idea of not being a fighter. It even works with actors who play boxers… for example, see Rocky VI.

Maybe this wouldn’t happen if there were some bad-ass heavyweights out there… some big, bruising, bastards who were scaring the hell out of everyone. But no one like that exists… it’s wide open, so Evander thinks he has a chance to become the champion of the world again. And in the unlikely event that he does… I just can’t see myself being that happy for him. I’ll be thinking something like, “Okay, you can quit now, right?”

I just want him to get through this thing without getting killed.