Evander Holyfield, at 49 years old, says he’s still active and would like to fight for the heavyweight title against one of the Klitschko brothers. (AP)

LAS VEGAS — Evander Holyfield is five months shy of his 50th birthday but the former undisputed heavyweight champion still believes he will be the current  undisputed heavyweight champion.

“I’d like to fight a Klitschko,” Holyfield said Saturday at ringside during the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight. “I want to be a champion. I’ll fight any one of the champions.”

Holyfield has been out of the ring since last May, when he knocked out Brian Nielsen. Holyfield says he is still active and hopes to have a fight before the end of the year. But there’s a catch: He says he will only fight again if it is a title fight.

“If I have to fight somebody else, why fight?” Holyfield said. “I’m only interested in championship fights.”

Holyfield could technically fight for a title without going through one of the Klitschkos. Alexander Povetkin holds the WBA “regular” heavyweight title — the organization bizarrely elevated Wladimir Klitschko to “super champion” shortly after he won the title from David Haye — and rumors persist that Povetkin’s promoter, Sauerland Event, is interested in making a Povetkin-Holyfield fight later in the year.

“At the age of 50, I thought I’d be to be out of the game,” Holyfield said. “I thought I would have accomplished all I wanted to accomplish. But I still want to fight for the title.”

– Chris Mannix

Seth Mitchell said he would consider a fight against one of the Klitschko brothers, for the right price. (Mel Evans/AP)

LAS VEGAS — Megafights like Saturday night’s showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto generally bring many of boxing’s biggest names to town. That includes Seth Mitchell, the former Michigan State linebacker and current heavyweight prospect, who last weekend defeated Chazz Witherspoon in a third-round knockout.

Mitchell sat down for a quick conversation with SI.com while in town for Saturday’s fight.

You were a football player. How in the heck did you get into boxing?

I went to Madison Square Garden and saw [Ravens safety] Tom Zbikowski’s pro debut, in 2006. I played against him in college. I thought, ‘if he could do it, I could do it.’ I had no experience. I was a very casual fan. I watched the major fights. I was a Tyson fan growing up. But I didn’t know a lot about it.”

What made you think you would be good at it?

Athletics is my gift. Not sport, athletics. I’ve always stood out when it comes to competing. I only played football for three years, and I was an All-American. My drive, my will, I figured I would have success.

Did you take to it quickly?

The transition from always running sprints to running three and four miles, it’s different. You have to train yourself to go hard for three minutes versus in football, you get a 30-35 second break. And you can’t train to take a punch. That was the toughest part. Playing middle linebacker in football, I was always tight when I would take on and engage those blockers. Where in boxing, you have to relax. It took me sometime to learn to relax in the ring.

You got buzzed pretty good by Witherspoon in that first round, didn’t you?

I was hurt. I had been buzzed three times before, but that time I was hurt. I have to start keeping that left hand up.

Did you learn anything from that?

If you had asked me how I would have reacted before, I would have told you that is how I would react. That I would be OK. But I didn’t know. Now I know I can recover. I know I have that drive and that will. I have to keep that left hand up. I have to keep my head on a swivel.

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Dereck Chisora lost to Vitali Klitschko before taking on fellow boxer David Haye in a post-fight press conference. (AP)

MUNICH — Three thoughts from Vitali Klitschko’s unanimous decision win over Dereck Chisora:

Let’s start with the brawl. Because this will be all over YouTube, you know, now. During the post-fight press conference David Haye, who was attending the fight as a commentator for a British outlet, started barking at Klitschko. He demanded a fight. Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, told Haye unequivocally, “You’re out. You can’t talk your way into this fight.” After a few minutes, Chisora — who Haye has openly criticized — got involved. Chisora made fun of Haye’s toe. Haye made fun of Chisora’s record. Chisora challenged Haye to fight him. Haye said he would knock him out. Chisora left the dais and told Haye to say it to his face. Haye drilled him with an elbow to the chops.

From there, it was bedlam. Haye hit Chisora. Chisora hit Haye. Haye hit Chisora’s trainer, Don Charles. Someone hit Haye’s trainer, Adam Booth, who was cut at the top of his forehead. Haye swung a tripod at one of Chisora’s friends. After a few minutes of brawling, Haye left, and Chisora told Booth, “David is going to fight me or I’m going to shoot him. I’m going to shoot him in the street. I’ll burn him.”

All this amused the Klitschko’s, who stayed out of the fray. Wladimir stood on a chair, laughing. Vitali shook his head and left the room. Boente suggested that Haye and Chisora fight, with the winner earning a shot at Vitali’s WBC heavyweight title belt. Later, a handful of police cars were spotted outside the building, waiting, I was told, for Chisora. All in all, a wild ending to the night.

Chisora sure makes things interesting. One day after slapping Klitschko at the weigh-in — a shot Chisora says he threw because he promised his mother that when he was face-to-face with a Klitschko he would slap one — Chisora nearly came to blows with Wladimir Klitschko in his dressing room. Sources say Wladimir, who was in the room inspecting Chisora’s hand wraps, as he often does in Vitali’s fights, took issue with the way Chisora was wrapping his hands, prompting Chisora to rip his wraps off and threaten not to fight. When he finally did get in the ring, Chisora spit water in Wladimir’s face during introductions. “The hardest thing I have ever done,” Wladimir told me later, “was not break his face.”

The Klitschko’s have dealt with trash talkers before, but Chisora’s behavior clearly struck a nerve. “I have big respect for him as a fighter,” Vitali said, “but no respect for him as a human.”

Oh yeah, there was a fight. Chisora talked tough but like most of Vitali’s opponents — Klitschko is now 9-0 since coming out of retirement in 2008 — he didn’t measure up. Chisora was aggressive early, taking the fight to Vitali, who struggled throwing his jab due to an arm/hand injury he suffered in the fourth round. Still, Vitali was never in trouble, popping right hands off Chisora’s head and peppering him with combinations. It wasn’t an A+ performance but even Chisora admitted after the fight Vitali had gotten the job done.

– Chris Mannix

Dereck Chisora (right) caused a stir when he slapped Vitali Klitschko at the weigh-in for Saturday's heavyweight title fight in Munich. (Youtube.com)

MUNICH — At the weigh-in for his fight against Robert Helenius in December, Dereck Chisora nearly sparked a riot when he got into a shoving match with Helenius on the dais. On Friday, Chisora did it again: after weighing in for his WBC heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko, Chisora slapped Klitschko with a hard right hand.

Klitschko appeared angry, but stayed composed. He took a step back and stared at Chisora, pointing a long arm at the Briton, who promptly fled the stage. Members of Klitschko’s team, however, started barking at Chisora, screaming “You f—ed up now, you really f—ed up” in his general direction. They also got in the face of Chisora’s trainer, Don Charles, who remained on the stage to test out the gloves being used in the fight.

Klitschko-Chisora will air in the U.S. on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on Epix and EpixHD.com.

– Chris Mannix

Heavyweight titleholders Vitali (far left) and Wladimir (far right) Klitschko are co-producing a musical version of "Rocky" set to debut in 2012. (AP)

A musical version of Rocky is set to debut in Germany in November 2012, Sylvester Stallone announced Monday in Cologne.

Stallone is teaming up with heavyweight champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, who will co-produce the musical and train the actors in boxing.

Rocky: The Musical will debut next year in Hamburg. Casting has yet to take place.

The feature film Rocky won three Academy Awards in 1976, including Best Picture, and spawned five sequels that altogether grossed more than $1.25 billion worldwide. Stallone has long fancied the idea of bringing his most beloved film character to the stage.

“At the end of the day, Rocky is a love story and he could never have reached the final bell without Adrian,” Stallone said at Monday’s announcement. “To see this story coming to life on a musical stage makes me proud. And it would make Rocky proud.”

Budgeted at $15 million, Rocky: The Musical will have its world debut in German before Stallone brings an English-language version on tour around the world.

Former heavyweight titleholder David Haye retired from boxing Thursday on his 31st birthday, staying true to a promise he made when he started out as a fighter.

Whether the retirement is genuine or merely a ploy to finalize contract negotiations with Vitali Klitschko remains to be seen, though Haye denied suggestions of gamesmanship.

So what’s next for the loquacious Londoner, whose most recent outing was a lopsided decision loss to Wladimir Klitschko in July? British oddsmaker William Hill opened action on Haye’s next career move within hours of the announcement.

Hill installed Haye at 6/1 to fight in WWE and 8/1 to switch to mixed martial arts and join the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Should he turn to entertainment, Haye is 3/1 to appear on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, 7/1 to skate on Dancing on Ice and 8/1 to tango on Strictly Come Dancing (where other British punchers have enjoyed mixed results).

Haye also opens at 50/1 to succeed Daniel Craig as the next James Bond and 250/1 to win the 2012 London mayoral election.

Since it would surprise exactly no one if Haye came out of retirement to fight Vitali, who holds the WBC heavyweight title, the oddsmaker installed the brash two-division champion as a 4/1 underdog to defeat the elder Klitschko brother.

“Haye is an even bigger price to defeat Vitali than he was when he took on Wladimir and if he will have to make sure that he is serious about the challenge if he is to avoid a double Klitschko KO,” William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said.

– Bryan Armen Graham

Vitali Klitschko (above) met little resistance Saturday in retaining his WBC heavyweight title against Tomasz Adamek. (AP)

ATLANTIC CITY — Three quick thoughts on Vitali Klitschko’s 10th-round knockout of Tomasz Adamek.

• Klitschko is, simply, a beast. Klitschko is 40, has a head full of grey hairs and a body that has been battered by a long career in boxing. But there is no question he is light years better than anyone in the division not bearing the same last name. Saturday night was vintage Klitschko. He filleted Adamek’s face with that long, probing jab and dropped him twice — once officially, thanks to a blown call by referee Massimo Barrovecchio, who inexplicably didn’t call Adamek down in the second round after a Klitschko right hand had him grabbing the ropes to stay vertical — with thudding right hands. Adamek could never get inside and the 6-foot-7 Klitschko just gobbled him up from long range. A couple of people tweeted me a “he won because he’s tall” argument. That’s bogus. Klitschko is skilled and well-conditioned with a granite chin. He’s the real deal.

• Besides Wladimir Klitschko, there is no one that can touch Vitali. HBO’s Max Kellerman dropped Robert Helenius’s name as a possible future opponent, and I agree with him. Helenius is Klitschko’s size and has impressive power. But Helenius, 27, is at least a year away from being ready. Between now and then, Vitali is looking at a lot of walkovers. David Haye is a possibility. Despite Wladimir destroying Haye in July, Vitali is still interested in getting in the ring with the man who trashed his family name. Undefeated Ukrainian Mariusz Wach, who can also match Vitali’s size, is another. Then there is former titleholder Nikolai Valuev, a 7-footer who has been inactive since 2009 due to injuries and a run for political office. Don’t expect any of those possibilities to pose a serious challenge.

• Adamek should stay at heavyweight. So he couldn’t beat a Klitschko. Who can? In his short time as a heavyweight Adamek has proven he can hang with everyone else.  He drew 45,000 fans to a new stadium in Poland, has a very strong following in New Jersey and can win a lot of good, meaningful fights over the next few years. Put him in with Alexander Povetkin, David Haye or in a rematch with Chris Arreola and he will do well. The only lesson Adamek should take away from Saturday night is the same one every fighter who gets in the ring with Vitali or Wladimir: The Klitschkos are just too good.

– Chris Mannix