The Real Deal Goes Down?

AFTER his most recent fight, a unanimous-decision loss to WBO heavyweight champ Sultan Ibragimov, Evander Holyfield said he would keep fighting and was determined to recapture the heavyweight belt he last held in 2001. Maybe Holyfield, 45, is just another boxer who doesn't know when to give up. Or maybe he just really needs the money. On June 4 the Fayette Daily News published a foreclosure notice for Holyfield's 109-room mansion in Fairburn, Ga., saying that mortgage holder Washington Mutual had scheduled an auction for July 1. Last Friday an attorney for the lending company said the home had been removed from auction, and Holyfield told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "everything is all right with the house now."

But Holyfield, who made nearly $250 million in fight purses, faces other financial issues. The mother of one of his 11 children has alleged in court that he is behind on child support (a charge Holyfield denies), and a Utah consulting company is suing the ex-champ for failing to repay a $550,000 loan. The Real Deal, ever the optimist, downplayed his woes to the Journal-Constitution. "I'm not broke," he said. "I'm just not liquid."