A FEW weeks ago former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes telephoned Don Turner, who will be working Evander Holyfield's corner against Mike Tyson tonight, and implored his old trainer not to allow Holyfield to absorb any unnecessary punishment.

"I understand why he's doing this," Holmes told Turner. "Make sure he gets paid - but don't let him get hurt."

Holmes is not alone in voicing his concern about Holyfield's welfare. Before it would agree to sanctioning the fight within its jurisdiction, the Nevada State Athletic Commission took the unprecedented step of requiring a full battery of tests, which were conducted at Minnesota's Mayo, Clinic. An extraordinary proviso" was also written into the fight agreement, empowering the commission's chief physician, Dr Flip Homansky, to arrive unannounced at Holyfield's Houston training camp and conduct a spot check on the boxer's condition.

"By the time he steps into the ring against Tyson, Evander Holyfield will be the most thoroughly tested boxer in history," said NSAC executive director Marc Ratner.

Based on the recent record, it could be reasonably argued that any Tyson opponent is taking his life into his hands, but the concerns about Holyfield are hardly misplaced. In almost any discussion of Holyfield's place in the pantheon of heavyweight champions, the term "heart" will inevitably be invoked, both in the figurative and literal senses. A gallant, if undersized, gladiator who at his best seemed to operate on desire alone, Holyfield's recent past has also been tarnished by what may or may not be a genuine physical ailment.

Following his April 1994 points loss to Michael Moorer, in which Holyfield inexplicably ran out of steam over the last half of the fight, he was diagnosed with a mysterious cardiac malady described as a "non compliant left ventricle," and, under medical orders not to box again, announced his retirement from the ring.

Thirteen months later he was fighting again, his heart problem having been cured, he claimed, in a session with a faith healer. Holyfield is a deeply religious man much given over to the power of prayer, and there is no reason to doubt that he believes his mysterious recovery to be an authentic miracle What is more, bewildering is that America's foremost doctors have been unable to detect any recurrence of, the heart ailment, and have thus been forced to give their reluctant blessing to tonight's exercise at the 16,000 seat MGM Grand Garden.

"I feel 100 per cent better than I did for the third Bowe fight," said Holyfield, referring to last November's rubber match of an epic trilogy with Riddick Bowe in which, for the only time in a 35 fight professional career, Holyfield did not survive to hear, the final bell. "I had to pray just to get myself up and to the gym. There are a lot of things I went through to even make it to that fight."

Holyfield has fought only seven times since celebrating his 30th birthday just over four years ago. He lost three of those fights, looked awful in at least two of the wins, and very ordinary in another. In the lone exception - the victory in Bowe II - Holyfield gave a glorious and courageous display that recaptured the past. The memory of that fight is no doubt what has kept him going until this one.

One qualified observer - Holmes - believes that, like Ali and Frazier two decades ago, Holyfield and Bowe gave so much of themselves against each other in their three fights that both men were essentially ruined by the experience. Whatever the case, it has been apparent that Holyfield's stamina has failed him on several occasions, but he himself dismisses the notion that his body clock has changed.

"I don't think that at all," said Holyfield this week. "The whole thing has stemmed from the second Bowe fight. That was a tough match. It took a lot out of me, and I should have rested more after that fight. I think I took Moorer for granted a little bit. I kept injuring my shoulder in training, but I was not going to pull out and I went forth with the fight.

"With Bowe the third time I had a virus and should have been man enough to accept the fact I needed more rest before I went into that. I didn't heed what my body was telling me. With Bobby Czyz (who quit on his stool after 5 rounds this May) I got over excited and tried to knock him out, showing no professionalism at all. I fought like an amateur against Czyz - but because it was unimpressive and I looked lousy, it landed me the fight with Tyson."

The litany of excuses aside, he may be correct on that point. Holyfield and Tyson were originally supposed to meet five years ago this weekend (Tyson pulled out with a rib injury), and the match was even supposed to have been made a year before that.

"I had worked my way up to being the number one contender by early 1990, and I was supposed to fight Tyson then," recalled Holyfield. "Somehow he was extended one fight, and chose to fight a tune up, which turned out to be the Buster Douglas fight. We were supposed to fight after that, but, of course, Douglas won and then came the situation with Tyson pulling out with the rib injury and then Tyson went to jail."

In a sense, then, Holyfield has been preparing for Tyson for nearly six years. And, while it is not widely known, Holyfield and Tyson actually have boxed one another before. In 1984, when Holyfield was the cruiser weight representative and Tyson the 18 year old heavyweight alternate on the American Olympic team, they briefly sparred in a Los Angeles gym.

"We did, but we only sparred one round, and I don't really remember anything about it," said Holyfield. "We just got in there and boxed."

How much has Tyson changed since that brief encounter?

"He's pretty much fought the same style since the amateurs," said Holyfield. "He's a very aggressive fighter and he puts relentless pressure on a lot of people. Now, on his comeback, we'll have to see. I will be out there doing my thing. Whatever I do, I'll do with an intense passion to win".

Holyfield's recent history has not persuaded the oddsmakers, who have made Tyson an overwhelming favourite at odds ranging from 12-1 to 22-1 at the sports books along the Las Vegas strip. Some people think they ought to be making book on whether Holyfield lives through the night.

"The odds makers have the right to put the odds at whatever they choose, and it's up to people to bet," shrugged Holyfield.

As widely beloved as Tyson is not, it was Holyfield who circled the Atlanta track with the Olympic flame at this summer's opening ceremonies in Atlanta and passed it on to swimmer Janet Evans, who handed it to Muhammad Ali. He won the undisputed heavyweight title when he knocked out Douglas five years ago, won back two thirds of it when he unpointed Bowe in their second fight, and would dearly love to join Ali as the only three time heavyweight champion in the sport's history.

Although Holyfield would appear, on paper at least, to be the most formidable opponent Tyson has faced since emerging from prison last year, his chances of lasting any longer than the other four would not appear great, but for a marketing tactic which unfolded a few days ago.

In the face of charges that the viewing public had been shortchanged by the brevity of Tyson's post prison pay per view fights against Peter McNeeley (89 seconds), Buster Mathis Jr (three rounds), Frank Bruno (three rounds), and Bruce Seldon (one round), Cable Vision, the United States largest cable distributor, last week offered what it termed a "Customer Value Guarantee", whereby viewers will only be charged $9.95 a round against the $49.95 price if the bout goes less than five rounds.

Besides being ethically dubious (there will be wagering on the over/under proposition at some casinos, and it appears an open invitation for Tyson to carry hiss opponent), the ploy flies in the face of fistic logic, implying, as it does, that longer is necessarily better.

"The best fight I ever saw, lasted less than three rounds," pointed out Lou DiBella, a vice president at rival HBO. "Should people have asked for a refund after Hagler Hearns?"

Tyson, who will be paid $30 million, has promised that he will dispatch his victim as quickly as possible, and there is no question that Holyfield (whose purse is $11 million) will be trying to do the same thing, even though conventional wisdom says that the longer the fight goes, the better" his chances are in what should be a classic boxer puncher confrontation.

"I would not have anybody try to tell me how to take him into the later rounds," said Holyfield. "Taking him to the later rounds is a losing mentality. Most people don't make it to the later rounds thinking that way.

"People have been waiting years and years for the best two to fight each other," he said. "Even if you're not a boxing fan, this is definitely a big event. This is something that will definitely go down in history, and everybody, wants to be caught up in history."

Even promoter Don King wants that. For several weeks King toyed with the idea of putting the Lennox Lewis Oliver McCall fight for the vacant WBC title on tonight's card, just so he could claim to have been the only promoter in history to have staged four heavyweight championship fights on the same evening.

Wiser heads prevailed. As it is, only Tyson's World Boxing Association version will be at stake in his match with Holyfield. Tonight's main event will be preceded by lesser championships that will see Moorer defend his IBF title against South Africa's Francois Botha and Henry Akinwande the WBO crown against Russian emigre Alex Zolkin.

Both before and after his prison stretch, there is little question that Tyson has won most of his fights before the weigh in, so thoroughly intimidating opponents that they come cowering out of the corner to meet a fate they see as inevitable. Say what you will about him, Holyfield doesn't, fear Tyson - and Tyson knows it.

"I think he has a lot of respect for me as a fighter, as I do for him," said Holyfield. "He's got his job and his work cut out for him. The way he chooses to handle it is the way he chooses to handle it. People use different forms of intimidation. People just assume Tyson's a harder puncher than I am, but we'll find out at fight time."

As cagey as Holyfield sounds, the opponent who knows him best - Riddick Bowe - thinks the careful preparations could go right out the window the instant the bell rings tonight. The very courage which made him a great champion, believes Bowe, could also prove his undoing against Tyson.

"He's a warrior," said Bowe. "When push comes to shove, Evander's instinct will be to stand and fight."

"He may be right," winked Holyfield when informed of his bold rival's assessment. "But if I do it, you'd better believe I'm going to win.