Holyfield to Fight Oquendo in November

Friday, September 8th 2006, 8:52 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Evander Holyfield, the first four-time heavyweight champion, wants to become the first to win five. The 43-year-old Holyfield resumes his long comeback Nov. 10 when he fights Fres Oquendo at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

In his most recent bout, Holyfield stopped Jeremy Bates in the second round on Aug. 18 in Dallas.

``I am asked all the time why I still fight,'' Holyfield said at a news conference Thursday. ``My answer is always the same. I want to reach my goal. And that goal is to become a world champion one more time.

``When I do, I'll sit down. Until then, I'm going to be in the battlefield.''

Before defeating Bates, Holyfield (39-8-2 with 26 knockouts) had lost his previous three fights and hadn't fought anyone in nearly two years.

Oquendo, a Puerto Rican who fights out of Chicago, is 26-3 with 16 KOs. In February, he returned from a two-year layoff to stop Brazil's Daniel Bispo in the ninth round.

The 33-year-old Oquendo has yet to win a major title. He won his first 22 fights and lost a controversial decision to Chris Byrd in 2003.

Holyfield's four titles came as a cruiserweight and heavyweight. He won his first heavyweight championship in 1990 by defeating Buster Douglas.

The 10-round pay-per-view bout will be carried on Fox Sports Net.