Lou Savarese would like to apologize. As the father of two young sons, the heavyweight can finally understand what it was like for his own father to watch him get hit and go through the wars within the ropes.

"I think back now and I can realize my dad's anguish," said Savarese, who squares off against Tim Witherspoon this Sunday on Fox Sports Net's Sunday Night Fights. "He did not want me to fight. He gave us so many opportunities. My two brothers and my sister were all college graduates, and I was the baby, and he just did not want me to fight. Now I know what he went through. I come home and my kid's got a mosquito bite, and I'm freaking out."

Savarese laughs. But despite his protestations, the elder Savarese fully supported his son's dream of becoming heavyweight champion. "I don't know how many times, if I had a tough fight, he'd be like, 'why don't you quit? Just stop,'" said Savarese. "On the other hand, he used to drive me to the gym every day. We lived in Greenwood Lake and he'd drive 50 miles, drop me off at my construction job, and I'd sleep in the car the whole way. Then he'd pick me up, drive me to White Plains and back. It was unbelievable. He'd still be driving me."

And even though his father passed away, Savarese's dream continues, with the next step taking place against Witherspoon, who despite being in his mid-forties, has fought his way back into the world rankings. At 37, the New York native would like to get 'Terrible Tim's rating, and though he's a longshot to become a factor once again in the division, he knows that in today's heavyweight scene, he's just one or two wins away.

"To quote my manager, Bob Spagnola, 'a day is a year in the heavyweight division,'" said Savarese, 42-4 with 34 KOs. "I've learned that 50 times over, and it's so true. Who knows, we beat Witherspoon for this NABO title, and there's talk of the winner getting (Wladimir) Klitschko. I know that Klitschko has wanted me for a while, so that might be perfect. You beat Klitschko you're right back in the mix. Another fight that I think is a natural for me is Jameel McCline. He's from New York, and that's a fight I really, really want. I think our styles match up well and I think that would be a great New York fight. He's a nice kid, but that's a fight I think I can win. It would put me right back in the picture. But right now, we've got to concentrate on Witherspoon, who's very dangerous and real crafty."

Real dangerous, real crafty, and a real fighter. While some assault the heavyweight division for it's lack of quality fighters and predominance of old pros still toiling in the upper reaches of the class, the bottom line is that the senior class still can fight. Fighters like Klitschko, McCline, and their peers are amazing athletes, but are still learning the finer points of the game. Fighters like Savarese and Witherspoon, and the dean of the older fighters, Evander Holyfield, know the tricks of the trade, and they know how to fight. It may be a subtle difference, but it's a difference that allows older fighters to still be competitive and successful against the young bucks of the sport.

Savarese is proud to be part of the "old-school".

"Max Kellerman said something, and it was probably one of my proudest moments in boxing," remembers Savarese. "I fought (Tom) Glesby and he said that 'Savarese can be proud of himself. He had an old-school boxing career.' And to me, as a fight historian, I think that it was the biggest compliment I've ever gotten. Stuff like that puts me on cloud nine. Not to be corny, but in everything I've done, I've always given 100%. The only knock on me has been that I've over trained. All my trainers have told me that. My dad gave me that work ethic, and me and my brothers and sisters all have that."

With good size and fair power, Savarese almost always is in crowd-pleasing bouts. Unfortunately, his ring limitations have dealt him four losses - to George Foreman, Michael Grant, David Izon, and Mike Tyson. But even in defeat, no one can say that Savarese didn't come to fight.

His last high profile bout was a first round blowout loss at the hands of Tyson, a bout more memorable for Tyson's rants after the 38-second stoppage than the fight itself. Savarese wisely took off from the sport for 11 months, not only to spend time with his family, but to regroup and reload for another go at the sport.

"I had a lot going on," said Savarese of the days after the loss to Tyson. "My first child was born and it was kind of a necessity to enjoy quality time with him. Before the fight I couldn't. We had the baby three weeks before the fight. But I guess I did have a little soul searching to do.

This is something you can do 80 percent. You have to do it 100 percent.

"As a fighter you have a lot of bravado, and you take losses to heart," continues Savarese. "There are three ways you can handle a loss. One is you quit. Two is you go on doing the same thing and make the same mistakes, and three is you make changes. That's what I've tried to do. Learn from my mistakes and keep going forward. In this era of fighters, a loss is a huge thing. I'm a boxing historian. I love fights and if you look back, Robinson fought LaMotta five times, and losses weren't that big back then. If you had a loss, you came back. Joe Louis got crushed by Max Schmeling, and came back and beat him. That was fun back then, but today you don't get those great rematches. I have four losses, and the one to Tyson was a big letdown, but I never thought I was out of this by any means."

Returning in May of 2001, Savarese has scored solid wins over journeymen Marcus Rhode (TKO2), Glesby (TKO3), and David Bostice (W12). It's put Savarese into a headlining position again with the Witherspoon bout, and while he knows a loss may spell the end for him, he knows what a win will do, and the Houston resident doesn't see his age as a death sentence.

"I'm a physical fitness freak," said Savarese. "Aesthetically, this is probably the best I've ever looked in my career. I'm the lightest I've been in two years, I've been training really hard, and I think this is it for me. I have to win. If I don't win I have to hang out at Chuck E Cheese with my kids. (Laughs) Guys are taking so much better care of themselves now. There's so much more out there in terms of nutrition, and not only in our sport. Look at baseball. Randy Johnson is almost 40 and he's at the peak of his career."

If Savarese can climb the mountain and achieve his seemingly impossible dream, one thing's for sure - the guy is marketable. One of the game's true nice guys, Savarese, like Witherspoon, is typical of the older fighter who has seen the ups and downs of the sport, and who becomes philosophical when it comes to the nuances of the game. It's a winning combination in terms of mainstream accessibility, a key to a fighter's earning potential. But is he too nice for boxing?

"I get that a lot," Savarese admits. "Sometimes you can take it as a compliment, but even this past weekend, it was nice to see what happened with De La Hoya, who I personally think handles himself as a gentleman. It was tough too, because Vargas was saying a lot of derogatory things. Oscar handled himself well and I thought it was a great lesson to be learned. If you look back, the heavyweight guys were such gentlemen. Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson - who I had the pleasure of knowing because we lived in the same area - they were true gentlemen and everybody liked them. And most of the fighters you meet today, 95% of them, are nice guys."

Lou Savarese can still fight, he trains hard, and he is entertaining to watch. Odds are against him ever getting to the heavyweight title, but if he did happen to make it to the top, what a story that would be, wouldn't it?

"It would be unbelievable," said Savarese. "It would be the perfect epitaph to my career. If it doesn't happen, I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason. This business is amazing. You look at a guy like

Tua, for example. He lost, and now he's back in the picture. Ruiz was knocked out by Tua and now he's a champion. That's what's amazing about this sport."

And that's enough to root for a father / son / brother / husband who just loves to fight.