With their history, it's understandable that Ronnie would want to be with Evander on his "last crusade", but Juan Diaz is a young champion with a bright future, and he's about to be in a unification match with Julio Diaz. By choosing to go with Evander and not Juan, there's talk that Shields is on the way out permanently as Diaz' trainer. Thoughts on Shields' decision?
I don't have a problem with it. I'm sure Shields has known Evander for a long time and wants to be apart of history. Wouldn't this make championship #5 for Evander? Juan and camp, namely Willie Savannah, should wake up and see the big picture.
It tells me that Holyfield is making more for the Ibragimov fight than Juan is for the Julio Diaz fight
The awkward situation is going to be at Savannah Gym where shields trains Holyfield, Diaz, and Rocky Juarez at. Kenny Weldon has his own gym in Houston, so it should be interesting to see what exactly transpires there if Mr. Savannah will tell Ronnie and Evander to take a hike from his gym permanently.
money talks. although long-term, it could prove a mistake, seeing as how Holyfield is almost certain to lose his next fight and be a non-factor once again within 6 mos., where Juan Diaz has a good chance of being champion for a long time to come. i guess it depends on how Diaz interprets the decision. if he's said he's happy to have Shields back once he's done with Holyfield, then how can you blame Shields? if on the other hand, Diaz says, "see ya when i see ya," then it seems like a short-sighted move on the part of Shields.
it's definitely a short-sighted move on Shields' part. You can't claim loyalty in a situation like this, because you're abandoning your star pup - even if only for one fight - while in the prime of his career. I'd like to believe Shields is doing it, in addition to the bigger purse, but also of the belief that it could very well be Holy's last fight, whereas Juan has plenty of road ahead of him. But at that, it's still something that should've been worked out between Shields and Juan, or at least Shields and Mr. Savannah. Maybe it was, but for there to be a leak that it's causing friction between the two suggests otherwise. Having met Shields on a few occasions, I've never had the impression that he'd deliberately fuck someone over. From the outside looking in, it appears that it comes down to how Juan and/or Savannah interpret the decision.
agREED... REED Talked to Shields a Couple Times when Holy was N Dallas to Fight Jeremy Bates...He's a VERY Approachable,Nice Cat & Doesn't Seem like the Type to B Opportunistic Enough to "Purposely" Fuck Someone Over,as U Said... REED
Savannah is old school and it all comes down to loyalty with him. Yes, he is the one making the fuss as Juan dosen't get involved in these kinds of matters. He'll train with whomever his manager tells him to train with, and I have the feeling that Mr. Savannah may feel betrayed by Ronnie for going with Holyfield. Juan is going to rout Julio Diaz regardless of who trains him, and I think Mr. Savannah can just stay in house with his people and just get Derwin Richards and Creed Fountain to keep him sharp enough to beat the hell out of Julio, which he is going to do anyway.
That's pretty much what I suspected. I don't blame him for being difficult with Don King. In fact I applaud his efforts to line up back to back unification matches while not giving in to King's demand of an automatic contract extension. But if the rumored reaction is in fact how he genuinely feels, then he's being too stubborn for his own good. If Juan and Shields otherwise have a strong bond, then he needs to look out for his fighter's best interested, and not react any time he (Savannah) feels offended. It's an occasion where he should consult with Juan rather than dictate to him, old-school or not. and for what it's worth, I hate when such boxing personalities classify themselves as "old school." 99 times out of 100, it's just another way of saying they're set in their ways too much for their own good. (Teddy Atlas, anyone?)
