Merry Christmas, Nikolai Valuev. The judges in Switzerland have a gift for you.

Valuev retained his WBA title on scores of 116-112, 115-114, and 114-114, giving him a majority decision win over 46-year old Evander Holyfield in an atrocious fight that joins the running for Worst Fight of 2008.

If you add up the whole package, including the scoring, it's hard to argue against its place as winner of that award.

I'm trying to come up with the right words, but there really aren't any. Holyfield was robbed of his spot as the oldest man to win a world heavyweight title. By the 11th round, with Holyfield so comfortably ahead in my view, I was thinking of how I was going to compare Holyfield's win over Valuev to 45-year old George Foreman's knockout of Michael Moorer.

I think I would've said something to the effect of Holyfield taking his place in the record books, but not even coming close to replacing the memory of that big right hand that knocked Moorer out years ago.

Now, I'm left trying to discuss -- again -- shameful judging and another pathetic fight by the heavyweights. I'm also left wrestling with my feelings about Evander Holyfield.

In that regard, I can say only this. I am no fan of the old champion and surefire Hall of Famer fighting on at his age. He showed us nothing tonight that would put him in the top 20 at heavyweight, and along with that, I can no longer justify ranking Nikolai Valuev in the top ten, and I don't care what belt he holds.

But as much as I dislike Holyfield fighting on, I like incompetent or biased judging even less. It taints the sport, it makes everyone look bad, and it makes us as fans feel like idiots for bothering to watch. For the record, I scored the fight 117-111 for Holyfield, and I don't think there's any way you could have scored it for Valuev.

This was without question the worst performance of Valuev's career. He sleepwalked through the entire fight, showing zero aggression, had nothing on any of his punches, never came CLOSE to hurting Holyfield, and was outlanded. Holyfield landed all of the best punches in the fight, and that's pretty bad considering Evander mostly circled and rushed and fought in short bursts.

Still, as unattractive and unappealing as that style is, doesn't it beat the hell out of standing in the middle of the ring and looking at the other guy? That's all Valuev did.

This was the worst of boxing. A horrible fight, a laughable "champion," a bad challenger, atrocious judging, and you know what else? They sold out the building, and everyone made their money.

They robbed Evander Holyfield of a win. Not a win that meant much to his legacy in realistic terms, and not a win that was going to propel him back into the elite ranks of the sport. Not a pretty win. Not a good win. But a win. He trained, he worked hard, he showed up in shape, he did what he could do given the circumstances, and the other guy stood there and watched him do it. And they robbed the poor bastard.

What a sorry day for the sport of boxing.

More:

MaxBoxing.com's Thomas Gerbasi rips the judging, too

Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports had it 116-112 for Holyfield

BoxingScene.com also calls it a robbery

Marc Abrams of 15rounds.com scored it 118-111 for Holyfield

Yeah, we're gonna be here. The show starts at 3pm ET, and I've got about as much interest in RBRing a Mads Larsen fight as I do putting thumbtacks in my genitals, so I'm not sure when we'll really start for the "main event." All coverage will be in the comments, and if you want to start talking mad trash, get that going any time you want.

This is ridiculous.

Step right up! Come one, come all!

SEE! The world's most GIANT BOXER!

And he will battle...THE ANCIENT RUINS OF HEAVYWEIGHT GLORIES PAST!

A spectacle for the ages...and the AGED! Ha ha ha!

15 cents, children.

This is the last round-by-round of the year here at Bad Left Hook, and we won't do another one until January 9, 2009. The future...

It's been a great year, and I've enjoyed the opportunity to do my best calling the fights for those that couldn't see this one or that one, and I always love conversing with everyone on fight night. It makes it that much more fun for me. Frankly, without you guys I'm not sure if I could've retained my sanity during the Oscar-Manny undercard or that Calzaghe-Jones sham pay-per-view. So thanks to everyone, and we'll do it again all year next year.

Credit BBC Sport:

George Foreman says Evander Holyfield is damaging himself and the sport of boxing by continuing to fight.

Holyfield, 46, will eclipse Foreman as the oldest world heavyweight champion if he beats Nikolay Valuev on Saturday. "I hope he'll achieve it and leave boxing alone," Foreman told BBC's World Service. "He's been a terrible reflection on the heavyweight division.

"Win, lose or draw, he should move away from boxing for the sake of leaving a good name for the sport."

...

"His head is starting to attract punches," said Foreman. "I don't like it, I really don't like it.

"He never was a big, strong man. He's a frail guy and he's getting the worst of it every time he boxes."

Foreman, of course, is right. He goes on to remember his own difficulty leaving the sport, and admits he stayed too long himself, noting, "You fall in love with something that you ought not to fall in love with. It's like falling in love with a bad girl who does not love you, who's done with you and yet you keep hanging on."

Whether or not the grill master has been listening to the Buzzcocks is not for me to decide.

The biggest issue for Holyfield is the health. Well, to him, it's probably finance, and it's so hard to argue with the man doing what he knows in order to get that all settled and in order. He's got kids. He's got bills. He's got that stupid house.

Still, all I can think to do as a fan is argue against him continuing to fight. Maybe he never gets pummeled so badly that anything immediate sets on, but what about the future? He'll have to stop fighting at some point, and there's a whole life after boxing to consider. Does he really want to wind up like Muhammad Ali? Does anyone?

Evander has so much he could give to the sport in a non-fighting role. He could train, perhaps, or he could be used as an adviser, or he could try to go the TV analyst role. He could do a lot. It can't just be about the money, because even though he might not get it all in one burst like he does fighting, there is money he can make in other ways. Sadly, it's like Foreman says -- it's a love affair he can't let go. I'm just hoping he lets go before he has no choice.

It's really nothing new to slam the continuing career of Evander Holyfield, but Bernard Fernandez of The Sweet Science posted a superb article today about Holyfield, his financial woes, his personal motives that have brought those woes, and his upcoming, borderline upsetting fight with Nikolai Valuev.

From the article:.

But the pages of the calendar inexorably turn and Holyfield will discover that there are no more fights to be fought, no more multimillion-dollar paychecks to be cashed. All that will be left are humiliation, foreclosure and perhaps even incarceration for failure to pay debts that at some point will pile higher than the top of Valuev’s head.

And he will have no one to blame but himself for the mess. At least Mike Tyson, who also went through hundreds of millions of dollars until he was worse than broke, could claim he had been systematically bilked out of chunks of his fortune by promoter Don King, co-managers John Horne and Rory Holloway, and a platoon of leeching hangers-on.

It's not a story of the rise and fall of Evander Holyfield; it's just a story of the fall, and how the fall is seemingly nowhere near its end. While Holyfield fights on, nothing really changes.

The fight, scheduled for December 20 in Switzerland, is genuinely what I would call the most humiliating of Holyfield's career, even before it has happened. Valuev is a freakshow attraction, and now, so is Holyfield. It never should have come to this for Evander Holyfield, who once truly was "The Real Deal."

This is not a joke. Well, at least not in the sense that I'm making it up or that there aren't genuine reports of this happening. As for the fight, yes, that's a joke.

Dan Rafael has the report:

Holyfield (42-9-2, 27 KOs) said his attorney is reviewing a contract from Valuev promoter Sauerland Event for a fight that would take place Dec. 20 in either Germany or Switzerland.

"It's solid. They asked if I will take the fight for the offer they made and if everything is straight up, I will take that fight," Holyfield said. "My lawyer is looking at it."

Evander Holyfield is 45 years old. He can go on and on all he wants with that "age ain't nothin' but a number!" BS, and recall George Foreman and compare himself to other old fighters all he wants. But Holyfield has not won a decent fight in six years, and whenever he fights anyone worth their salt, he loses. Even his 2006 decision win against Fres Oquendo was highly debatable.

Holyfield was last seen getting slapped around by Sultan Ibragimov. Ibragimov, at 6'2", is a full ten inches shorter than Valuev, who will tower over Holyfield. Evander had trouble getting inside against Ibragimov. What the hell does he think he's going to do with Valuev? He might as well fight Wladimir Klitschko.

Rafael says the purse is under $750,000, putting one-and-one together when Holyfield would not disclose the amount but would say it's the lowest he'll have ever received for a championship fight.

It's kind of sad, and I don't have first-hand knowledge or anything, but Evander's probably hurting for the money. We all got to hear about his bad financial situation this past summer. Boxing is what he does. It's how he makes money.

There are only two things I can say about this fight, really. First, I hope Evander doesn't get hurt. Second, anyone that buys this sham of a fight on pay-per-view deserves the turd sandwich they'll be served.

OK, a third thing: ugh.