Busted

Smith slowed for a turn, and stole a glance at Holyfield. "Can I ask you something?" he said. "When you get in the ring, are you ever scared?"

"You scared to go to work?"

"No."

"There."

Smith made an observation: "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Only when I am mad," said Holy-field.

At Denny's, Holyfield came under siege. A waitress told the champion that he had a telephone call. Puzzled, Holyfield went to the phone. A man in Boston was calling to see if his brother, a Denny's employee, was as big a liar as he suspected. "He phoned to say you were there," said the caller, "and I was just checking."

Smith drove Holyfield and Williams back to the airport. He had one more question: "How do you feel when you knock a man down?"

"How do I feel?" said Holyfield. "I feel good."

The limousine was now ready, and Holyfield had the driver take him to the Riverchase Galleria mall. Holyfield wandered into a Footlocker store, where he was asked to sign a basketball backboard above the counter while perched atop a shaky aluminum ladder. Returning to earth, he sighed and signed more autographs. His new status was taking its toll.