DALLAS -- As Evander Holyfield stood in the hallway signing autographs, his trainer, Ronnie Shields, had a chance to relax.

Holyfield's second-round technical knockout of Jeremy Bates on Friday night at American Airlines Center began another chapter of Holyfield's legendary career and opened possibilities for the future.

"The man was a man," a visibly emotional Shields said. "And the man did his job."

For Holyfield (39-8-2, 26 KOs) and his team, the fight put to rest any questions about whether he's back. Fighting on Fox Sports Net was a change for Holyfield, who joked that "it usually costs you to see me."

"I wanted people to see and not have to read in the paper about, 'Is Evander really back?'." Holyfield said. "I know [skeptics say], 'Evander looks good, but he just can't pull the trigger.' But they got a chance [Friday] to realize I can pull the trigger."

In the fight, Holyfield was on his toes and didn't show any signs of old age. Holyfield said that "being 43 ain't all that bad" and he was especially glad that he was able to absorb Bates' punches.

"He threw a good right hand," Holyfield said. "I was glad I was able to make an adjustment. That's part of the game. It's not to see if you can take the shot. The instant you see it, you're able to use your legs and bend a little bit and take some of the snap off the shot."

When he threw punches, Holyfield used everything from combinations to jabs to hooks and straight lefts and rights. That variety almost gave Holyfield a first-round knockout.

Being completely healthy was huge, too, the four-time heavyweight champion said. Holyfield spent the past two years recovering from left shoulder surgery. Having a healthy shoulder, he said, allowed for him to throw his jab, hook off the jab and go to the body.

"Everything sets off the left hand," Holyfield said. "When my shoulder was messed up, it just wiped out half of who I was as a fighter."

Shields praised Holyfield for sticking to the game plan and doing exactly what they worked on in the gym.

Up next for Holyfield will be a fight by year's end with Sinan Samil Sam (26-3, 15 KOs). Sam is ranked No. 5 in the latest WBC rankings, but not in the top 15 by any of the other three recognized sanctioning bodies, and lost a unanimous decision to current WBC champ Oleg Maskaev in November.

"I'm happy today to be able to go in this ring, not injured, and to show you age don't have nothing to do with it," Holyfield said. "I'm willing to pay the price that's necessary. I train, and I'm looking forward to taking this to the next level."