Evander Holyfield: The Real Deal

When you think about Evander Holyfield, you may think about his ear being bitten off by Mike Tyson, you may think about his run as unified heavyweight champion or you may even think about his run as the greatest cruiserweight of all time. Evander Holyfield is one of the greatest boxers of all time and I’ve decided to take an in-depth look at ‘The Real Deal’.

Evander Holyfield fighting Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA Cruiserweight Championship in 1986.

In November 1984, Evander Holyfield made his professional debut as a light heavyweight and fought his first professional fight in Madison Square Garden against Lionel Byarm - this was an unanimous decision victory for Holyfield. From there, Holyfield picked up a few wins before heading up to cruiserweight and picked up a few more wins - enough wins to challenge for the WBA Cruiserweight Championship. After his first cruiserweight fight which he won by decision, Holyfield’s next 6 fights would consist of stoppage victories and then would fight the WBA Champion, Dwight Muhammad Qawi. This fight went all 15 rounds where Holyfield picked up the split decision victory.

Holyfield’s fight against Carlos De León for the WBC, WBA & The IBF Championship.

After defeating Muhammad Qawi, Holyfield went on an absolute tear, nobody went the distance with Holyfield. He defeated all four of his opponents he fought in 1987 including Muhammad Qawi in a rematch that was stopped in the fourth round. In April of 1988, Holyfield was both WBA & IBF Cruiserweight Champion and he wanted more, Holyfield fought Carlos De León for all of Holyfield’s titles plus the WBC Cruiserweight Championship. This was a big fight for Holyfield and he got the TKO win in the 8th round and became the undisputed Cruiserweight Championship.

Evander Holyfield moves up to heavyweight to fight Buster Douglas for the heavyweight championship.

Due to becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion, Holyfield decided to take a big risk and move up to heavyweight with the idea of becoming undisputed champion there also. Just 3 months after becoming unified cruiserweight champion, Holyfield made his heavyweight debut against James Tillis. Holyfield defeated Tillis in the fifth round. He got another KO victory later in the year against Pinklon Thomas. Holyfield begun 1989 by having what Ring Magazine claims as one of the best heavyweight fights of the 1980’s against Michael Dokes - Holyfield won this in the 10th. His next 3 fights were all stoppage wins before fighting Buster Douglas for the WBC, WBA and the IBF Championship.
This was Douglas’ first fight since defeating Mike Tyson and Holyfield defeated Douglas in the third round to capture all three titles - this sent a massive message to the heavyweight division. A new heavyweight face was born.

Evander Holyfield’s first Heavyweight title defence against George Foreman.

George Foreman is one of the biggest heavyweight names of all time and only suffered 5 losses in his entire career, one of these came from Evander Holyfield. This was Holyfield’s first title defence and it was a massive defence due to Foreman’s menacing appearance. The fight is well known for the 7th round where both men got their moments. Holyfield won a comfortable decision however despite the majority of the rounds going to Holyfield, it wasn’t an easy fight for ‘The Real Deal’.

Riddick Bowe gives Evander Holyfield his first loss after beating Holyfield by unanimous decision.

After a couple of successful title defences against George Foreman, Bert Cooper and even Larry Holmes, Holyfield’s next championship defence was against Riddick Bowe - a respectable heavyweight. The Vegas bout was Holyfield’s first defeat and even saw Holyfield get dropped in the penultimate round of the fight. His biggest error? Getting caught in a slugfest with 25 year old, Riddick Bowe. 7 months later, Holyfield fought Alex Stewart in a rematch of their 1989 encounter which Holyfield won by decision. From there, he came after Bowe again for a chance of becoming heavyweight champion once again and he did as he defeated Bowe in a 12 round decision. This rematch is largely known as the fight that saw a fan parachuting into the arena so that’s an interesting story. The two men are now one a piece and that was the end of their rivalry.

Holyfield Vs. Bowe III

Just kidding, the two got a third fight after Holyfield lost his championships to Michael Moorer. After losing the titles, Holyfield had to go to the hospital and it was revealed he had a heart condition and had to announce his boxing retirement effective immediately however this retirement didn’t last too long and after watching a show hosted by Benny Hinn - his heart healed and his return was imminent. Holyfield came back and defeated Ray Mercer by decision and was the first man to drop Mercer. The third and final bout between Holyfield and Bowe was a good one and Holyfield even knocked a Bowe down however Bowe came back and won by TKO in the eight round.

Evander Holyfield’s encounter with Mike Tyson in 1996 ended by TKO in the 11th as Holyfield stopped Tyson.

Going into the fight with Tyson, Holyfield walked in as the underdog as many expected Mike Tyson to walk out the MGM Grand Garden Arena with the WBA Championship around his waist however Holyfield has different plans. This was a great fight which Holyfield eventually won in the 11th round but it was a very exciting fight. The two rematched the following year and the feud was heated heading into this one and Tyson’s emotions clearly got the better of him as he bit the ear of Holyfield in the third round and it resulted as a DQ win for Holyfield.

Holyfield avenges his loss to Michael Moorer.

Now being the WBA Heavyweight Champion, Holyfield wanted more gold and set his aim for the IBF title and the IBF champion just so happened to be: Michael Moorer. Moorer defeated Holyfield 3 years prior however Holyfield was more prepared for the rematch and even knocked Moorer down five times before capturing the IBF title and becoming unified champion.

Evander Holyfield & Lennox Lewis in action.

The quest for all the gold wasn’t far from over for the real deal yet if he did want to become undisputed then he’d have to defeat Lennox Lewis for the WBC championship. This highly anticipated fight took place in a Madison Square Garden and this resulted in a controversial draw as many thought Lewis should’ve won, as such a rematch was ordered to take place. Lewis would win the rematch thus becoming unified champion.

Holyfield became WBA champion after defeating John Ruiz.

It wasn’t long until Holyfield became WBA heavyweight champion after Lewis’ belt was stripped for not fighting John Ruiz therefore the fight was made between Holyfield and Lewis which Holyfield won by a decision that was yet again decided controversially. Holyfield blamed this disappointing performance on a broken eardrum. Despite this, he was the first man to become heavyweight champion four times. The Ruiz rematch came next for Holyfield and Ruiz knocked Holyfield down before pulling off a 12 round decision victory. This feud is now one a piece therefore a third was needed which resulted in a draw. Ruiz walked away with the WBA strap.

Chris Byrd defeats Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision to become IBF Heavyweight Champion.

Six months after the Ruiz trilogy, Holyfield fought Hasim Rahman - a former heavyweight champion. This went 8 rounds which led to a technical decision as an accidental headbutt earlier in the fight left Rahman unfit to finish the bout. Holyfield would fight for the heavyweight title once again - story of his career at this point. This time he was battling for the vacant IBF championship against Chris Byrd. Byrd’s right jab was what he was finding effective and it essentially won him the fight. This marked Holyfield’s 6th loss, now having the record of 38-6-2.

James Toney pulled off a TKO victory over Evander Holyfield in the 9th round in 2003.

In 2003, Evander Holyfield - at the age of 40 fought James Toney and this started off good for The Real Deal as he won the first couple of rounds however from there, it went downhill and eventually his corner threw in the towel during the 9th round. Instead of retiring at the age of 40, Holyfield decided to go back to the drawing board. In 2004, Holyfield fought Larry Donald in a fight that saw all 12 rounds which Donald won. The following year Holyfield was banned from fighting in New York as his skills were diminishing despite him actually passing the majority of the tests. This didn’t stop Holyfield as he returned to the ring in 2007 and fought Jeremy Bates in Texas and believe it or not, Holyfield actually won by TKO in the second round. Holyfield was back.

In 2007, Holyfield was still knocking opponents out.

Holyfield’s second fight in the comeback showed that he could still go 12 rounds despite dropping Fres Oquendo in the first minute of the fight. Holyfield was aggressive and won a unanimous decision. 2007 proved to be a successful year for Holyfield as he defeated both Vinny Maddalone and Lou Savarese - the latter being a decision win however he did manage to get several knockdowns.

Evander Holyfield went to Russia to challenge Sultan Ibragimov for the WBO title.

There isn’t much to say about Holyfield’s next fight but I will say this: it was for the WBO Heavyweight Championship and Holyfield was close to 45. Other than that, the fight itself was uneventful and Sultan Ibragimov retained the championship and left Russia as champion. Holyfield would then proceed to get a WBA title shot which saw him lose by a very controversial majority decision as many thought Holyfield won the fight. Holyfield wanted to become the oldest heavyweight champion of all time and unfortunately it just wasn’t to be.

Holyfield captures the WBF (Federation) Championship after defeating Francois Botha.

After a 16 month layoff, Holyfield returned to the ring to fight Francois Botha for the WBF (Federation) title. This fight concluded with an 8th round knockout for Holyfield. Holyfield was 47 at the time and this just showed that he was still capable of picking up wins like these. The aftermath of this win was that Holyfield was saying he’d be interested in fighting either of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali or Wladimir yet this did not happen but instead, Holyfield fought Sherman Williams. This fight ended in a no contest due to a cut on Holyfield’s head which was caused by a clash of heads and Holyfield couldn’t see any longer.

Holyfield’s final fight ended up being a 10th round stoppage over Brian Neilsen.

In his final fight of his career, Evander Holyfield fought in Denmark against Brian Neilsen in 2011 at the age of 48. Neilsen wasn’t in the prime of his career either as he was 46 so on paper, this was a decent fight. This was scheduled for 12 rounds however it only went 10 as Holyfield stopped Neilsen in the tenth. This was Holyfield’s final fight and he retired with a record of: 44-10-2.

After this fight, Holyfield wanted a crack at the heavyweight championship which meant he fought one of the Klitschko brothers as this was firmly in the Klitschko era. He announced his retirement in 2014 and no longer fights despite talks of a few charity exhibitions which may or may not happen. Holyfield is one of the greatest boxers of all time and as far as I’m aware: the greatest cruiserweight of all time. Evander Holyfield really is the real deal.