Wow, sometimes you have to know when to let it go or maybe not…

When Evander Holyfield first boxing professionally, someone asked how long he planned to trade punches. He thought 28 sounded like a reasonable age to hang up the gloves, so he went with that.

Of course, here he is now, more than a decade and a half beyond his retirement goal — still stepping into the ring, still striving to be the undisputed heavyweight champion before they count him out for good.

“I realized that 28 is not as old as I thought it was,” Holyfield said with a chuckle during a phone interview from his Texas training base. “I fought George (Foreman) when I was 29 and George was 42. I kind of thought, ‘Shoot, man, I’ll definitely be gone by that time. That would be real old.’ Well, now I’m 44, and I don’t think it’s old at all.”

Indeed, Holyfield is getting ready to step in the ring again Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, to face another geriatric heavyweight, 41-year-old former contender Lou Savarese.

If the “Real Deal” passes the fourth test in his carefully scripted swan song, he hopes to land another title shot against one of the myriad champs in the muddled division. Within two years, in the World According to Evander, he’ll have all the belts around his waist and surpass Foreman as the oldest heavyweight champ ever. [paul newberry]