Oprah Winfrey recently invited Evander Holyfield to her show in order to facilitate an apology session between he and former competitor, Mike Tyson. Due to the fact that Mike Tyson had a reputation of being prone to violence and that small incident of having bitten a chunk out of Holyfield’s ear, he was presented as a near-reformed ogre, while his counterpart was presented as a saint wearing boxing gloves. That position now needs to be re-evaluated.
Evander Holyfield’s wife, Candi Holyfield, has filed a protective order against the boxing great.
As revealed by radaronline.com, Candi filed a complaint last week in Fayette County Superior Court, claiming her husband committed a violent act against her in the presence of their two children, actions that Oprah has stood firmly against of late. She banned convicted abuser Chris Brown from her show and, amid abuse allegations, she sent BeBe Winans packing from a judging role on her karaoke segment. Wonder what she’s saying now?
The undisputed heavyweight champion’s wife is saying her husband hit her “in the face, the back of her head, and on her back during the middle of the night,” according to the petition for the protective order.
They say, “what’s done in the dark will always …”
“He got up and turned the light on and started looking at my face and told me he was sorry, that he knew he shouldn’t have done that,” Candi stated in the petition.
It’s being reported that the violence was precipitated by the heat being cut off in the couple’s home, and Candi’s apparently ill-advised attempt to discuss the matter with Evander.
“He told me that I was only thinking about myself,” Candi Holyfield stated. “He started telling me that I needed to start putting God first in my life.” Good advice, minus the accompanying beating.
Evander’s financial woes — despite having won more than $200 million in prize money over his career — have been widely covered in the media over the last few years, and it seems he’s reached a tipping point. But according to Candi, that point was reached well before this incident. She claims his abuse against her began as early as six months into their marriage, when she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“At first it was mainly emotional,” Candi states in the petition. “There [were] incidents where he had pushed or grabbed me but it has escalated since 2008.”
In 2008, she claims he choked her in front of the couple’s daughter and housekeeper, and last year, she said he hit her in front of the couple’s children.
Candi is asking that her husband not be allowed within 500 yards of her, and that he have no contact with the couple’s two children, according to the court documents. She also requests use of a Porsche Cayenne and a Mercedes-Benz.
In light of all the recent relationship implosions, whether by cheating or beating, it seems as if self-control is being lost in these turbulent times. Oprah, we’ve just determined your next topic … get on it. And don’t forget to chide your good friend Mary J. for the near-perfectly covered up public Kendu beat-down. –gerald radford
