Holyfield Estate Faces Foreclosure

((HT: AJC/Boone))

For the second time in a year, Evander Holyfield’s palatial Fayette County estate is under foreclosure ((pictured, thanks John Spink/AJC)).

A notice published last week in the Fayette Daily News revealed the former heavyweight boxing champion is in danger of losing his 109-room Fairburn mansion. The lien holder is demanding full repayment of the original $10 million loan, with an auction scheduled for July 7 on the Fayette County Courthouse steps.

Last June a foreclosure notice was issued for the manor at 794 Evander Holyfield Highway, but “The Real Deal” was able to strike a deal to stay in his home, which sits on 235 acres just south of the Fulton County line.

The 46-year-old Holyfield also has a second Fayette property, at 592 and 596 West Bridge Road, under foreclosure, with an original loan amount of $216,000.

Holyfield has grossed more than $248 million in the ring, but two divorces, several failed business ventures and child support payments believed to total $500,000 annually have taken a toll on his financial well-being.

The father of 11 last boxed in December, losing to WBA champion Nikolai Valuev in Switzerland. His last significant payday came in 2003, when he received $5 million to fight James Toney.

Asked about his finances last June, Holyfield said, “I’m not broke. I’m just not liquid.”

Broke or not, Holyfield is unlikely to sell off any part of his estate. The mansion, which has its own bowling alley and movie theater, is worth an estimated $20 million, and according to Holyfield it costs more than $1 million annually just to maintain.

“To attack that house in any way, or suggest he get rid of it … that’s just not going to fly with him,” Holyfield’s former accountant Sam Gainer said last June. “That’s his trophy, his symbol of success.”