Holyfield Faces Battle of Age, Wits : Boxing: Champion has yet to decide on a formula to combat 42-year-old George Foreman.

HOUSTON —  Young beats Old.

It is the motto of the training camp of Evander Holyfield, 28, who defends his undisputed heavyweight title against 42-year-old George Foreman on April 19. But even though Holyfield has 14 years on his side, there are rumblings in his own camp that perhaps youth is not always enough.

Although most boxing people called it a farce when the match was made, as the day draws closer there is worry among those closest to the champion. Despite the $20 million Holyfield will earn for fighting Grampa George, it is obvious there is a lot to lose.

Suddenly, the danger of stepping into the ring with the shiny-domed, gargantuan country preacher from Marshall, Texas, seems a lot more real than it did when the fight was signed. Said George Benton, Holyfield’s head trainer: “George is the most dangerous guy in boxing. He can hurt you and he knows how to fight.”

It is a legitimate worry, especially since Benton and Holyfield seem to have a substantial difference of opinion on how to fight the big man. Benton, a former middleweight who often fought and beat bigger men with a sneaky defensive style, thinks Holyfield should take no chances with Foreman until the big guy runs out of steam.

But Holyfield, a warrior who has gone toe-to-toe with fighters he easily could have beaten on boxing skills, refuses to rule out a shooting war with Foreman, who has never lost a slugfest. Ask Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle and Gerry Cooney.

Holyfield had his last major sparring workout Saturday, going 12 rounds with Lionel Washington, Tracy Thomas, Eddie Richardson and Mike Barnwell. Despite his rock-hard body, he was very tired at the end of the workout and showed that he can be muscled by a bigger man. He also showed the kind of hand speed and sharpness that Foreman has yet to face in the 24 fights of his second career.

Afterward, Benton talked about the kind of fight he would like to see Holyfield wage. “I’m telling him over and over, ‘Let’s not worry about making this a short fight,”’ Benton said. “In a war, George can get lucky. You got to run the numbers on him and get out. Stick and stick and make him miss. Make him work and make him think. You do that for five rounds and you’re out of danger. You’re home free.”

When Benton’s words were repeated to Holyfield, the champion just shook his head. “I have to set up the strategy according to what’s available,” Holyfield said. “I don’t get paid to go 12 rounds. I get paid to go out and pull the trigger as fast as possible. If I get him hurt, I’m not going to pull back ... As soon as I have him hurt, I’m going to jump on him.”

The same thing was tried by Lyle in 1975 and by Cooney last year. Both found out one thing about Rev. George -- he can be outboxed, but nobody outslugs him. Both wound up face down on the canvas blowing blood bubbles out of their noses. “That’s my main problem, trying to keep him from falling into George’s fight,” Benton said.

Maybe the motto should be altered slightly: Young beats Old -- unless Old lands the first punch.

The Larry Holmes-Trevor Berbick incident promises to get uglier and uglier. The two former heavyweight champions tangled in a messy street brawl after Holmes’ easy first-round KO over a scared-stiff Tim “Doc” Anderson in his comeback fight Sunday night.

The bad feelings between Holmes and Berbick apparently go back to 1982, when Berbick fought Greg Page on the Holmes-Cooney undercard. Holmes had a piece of the promotion and, he says, was entitled to 10 percent of Berbick’s $100,000 purse. Berbick never paid, and he says Holmes took the money out in trade -- on his estranged wife. Now, Berbick is filing criminal and civil charges against Holmes after the street brawl, in which Holmes allegedly kicked and pummeled Berbick and Andy Levinson, a young heavyweight protege of Berbick’s. Television footage of the 236-pound Holmes running over the tops of two cars to leap on Berbick was comical and proved that Larry still has his footwork. No real damage was done, and the incident ended with Berbick running away.

Presumably, the whole thing could be settled the way most boxing legal disputes are settled -- with a fight in the ring between the two combatants. Holmes beat Berbick in a 1981 title fight, but Berbick’s managers say hyping a rematch is not what the incident was all about. “It was not planned, I tell you that,” said Joe Allegro, Berbick’s other co-manager. “They really hate each other. Trev or’s going ahead with the charges.”

Former heavyweight champs Tim Witherspoon and Tony Tucker meet in a 10-rounder on the June 3 Thomas Hearns-Virgil Hill undercard.

WBO light heavyweight champion Michael Moorer moves up to heavyweight on the Foreman-Holyfield undercard vs. Terry Davis.