By Allyson Turner

Evander Holyfield knew a good thing when he saw it during his fight against Larry Holmes. After the bout, Holyfield hired Holmes' trainer, Don Turner, who molded the careers of Aaron Pryor and Mike McCallum.

Growing up in the poor sections of Cincinnati, Turner moved to New York City in 1959 with only $800 to his name. He drove a taxi for 11 years and fought in preliminary fights, mostly as a middleweight. In recent years, he successfully waged a fight against prostate cancer.

 

The upcoming fight against Lennox Lewis will mark the ninth time Don Turner has been in Holyfield's corner. (Allsport)

What was the greatest moment for you inside the ring?
There are two. Holyfield beating Tyson, and Holmes beating Ray Mercer. Holmes was a big underdog with Mercer. Everybody thought he was gonna get hurt, and he made Mercer look like he was an amateur. They didn't give Holyfield a prayer against Tyson, but Evander made it probably his easiest fight as a heavyweight.

What about outside the ring?
Being with my wife.

What was the best advice you received and who was it from?
My grandfather. He taught me that in any crisis, the results are the only thing that count. However you get positive results, that's what the right way is.

What advice do you give your fighters?
I give them the three D's that make up a champion -- desire, dedication and determination.

What are the similarities between Holyfield and Holmes?
Intelligence. While I worked with Larry Holmes for five years, I learned an awful lot about anticipation. He was the master of anticipation. He was like a basketball player in transition, where he could stop almost any punch that was thrown at him. I thought that he was the most intelligent of all heavyweights, as far as sheer ring intelligence and saavy, until I started working with Evander.

Evander has a lot of tools. This guy is an incredible athlete. He never stops trying to reach new heights. It's just amazing the brain that he has. It takes a lot of brains to be a great heavyweight, to be under fire from the media, big guys punching at you and to still keep your cool and come out victorious, as he proved in the Tyson fight.

You said boxers don't get hurt in the ring. What part of Holyfield's training have you imposed on him outside the ring?
You don't try to burn the candle from both ends. When he's training, he's training, period. He trains, rests and eats. Trains, rests, eats. The young kids today can't wait to do something that is arbitrary to their boxing. They always look for something else to do other than training. They think two hours a day is enough and they can do anything they want to do afterwards. And fighters don't get really hurt in the fight. They get hurt in the gym most of the time because they are not ready. You always hear about a fighter that overtrains -- because he did so little and then he tried to cram so much in a short period of time, so his body goes into shock.

Growing up in the poor sections of Cincinnati, how much did that mold you to be the person you are today?
When I grew up, I had three meals a day -- missed meal, no meal and oatmeal. I was raised in the projects and I came from a very poor background. An inner-city kid, I never wanted to go back. Every time I go to Cincinnati, I go back to the place that I grew up and I see some of the same families there. But I know one thing, in America, you can go as high as you want to go as long as you work hard at it. A lot of people blame their failures on different things, but the only failure in America is yourself.

We have too many options, and humans usually take the road with the least resistance. I didn't. I always wanted to better myself and that motivated me. I've seen junkies, the guys I grew up with, most of them are in jail or they are junkies or they are dead. I'm still around and I went through a lot of things in my life. The '60s, the freedom rides. The '70s, and now the free love. I've been through 40 some years of changes. That keeps me going, where I came from to where I am now.

When you arrived in Harlem in 1959, what was life like for you?
I didn't know anybody and I had about $800 in my pocket that I had saved from working. I was married and it was excitement for me. I went to Coney Island and I did a lot of things. Right away I knew I was in the big city and I had to think big. I couldn't think like I was in the projects anymore. My family didn't want me to come. Out of 40 years, I have never spent more than two weeks in Cincinnati at one time. I never sent for a dime. I made it on my own. I don't think that's bad for a guy with a ninth grade education.

What was the most bizarre thing that happened when you drove a taxi?
A guy wanted me to go up a one-way street. And I knew it was a one-way street, but he wanted to rob me. I said, 'You can get out here. I know it's a one-way street. I'm not going up there. And you don't have to pay me. How's that?' I've been on the fringes and I hustled the streets a whole lot. I know a lot about street life. I'm always alert. I never drank. I never smoked. But I always hung out and I pretty much knew what was going on all the time. It's hard to trick me.

If you could have ringside tickets for any match, which fighters would you most like to see in the ring?
Sugar Ray Robinson and Evander Holyfield. There is always the drama and excitement with those two guys. Holyfield has never got his due because he followed Muhammad Ali. It's tough because Cassius Clay was something special. But at the age of 36, I don't think there's any fighter in the history of boxing that peaked like Evander at his age.

What was the greatest gift you ever received?
My grandfather. It wasn't in a package. It was in wisdom, that's what he gave me. He used to tell me all the time you only want to live on one street -- what's real. And real street should be where you live. That was it. He used to tell me, 'Nobody ever gets out of the web that you build if you build it strong.'

What is a perfect day?
Everyday.