Financial jabs plague Holyfield

ATLANTA – Maybe now we know why former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield wants to keep fighting at age 45.

The “Real Deal” appears real broke.

His $10 million estate in suburban Atlanta is under foreclosure, the mother of one of his children is suing for unpaid child support, and a Utah consulting company has gone to court claiming the boxer failed to pay back more than a half million dollars for landscaping.

A legal notice that ran Wednesday in a small local newspaper said Holyfield’s estate will be auctioned off “at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash” at the Fayette County courthouse on July 1. The 54,000-square-foot home – located on Evander Holyfield Highway – has 109 rooms, with 17 bathrooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley.

Meanwhile, Holyfield’s handlers allegedly told the mother of one of his children that he will no longer be able to make his $3,000-a-month support payment. Toi Irvin claims the boxer has already missed two payments, so she has gone to court seeking restitution.

“My concern is there may be a lot of other mothers not be getting paid, and I would like my client to be at front of the line,” said Randy Kessler, Irvin’s attorney.

Kessler said Thursday evening he has yet to hear from Holyfield’s attorney and hopes to go before a judge in 30 days. He will request the boxer be jailed if he doesn’t pay up.

“This is such a small amount given the scope of what he has,” Kessler said. “If Evander Holyfield can get away with it, anybody can. There are guys making $15,000 a year who go to jail for missing a $100 payment.”

Holyfield, the only four-time heavyweight champion, has at least nine children.

Further compounding his financial woes, a federal lawsuit was filed about two weeks ago in Utah seeking repayment of $550,000 in loans allegedly made to Holyfield in late 2006 and early 2007 to pay for landscaping on his 235-acre estate.

Holyfield didn’t return a message left on his cell phone by The Associated Press.