Boxer, born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He became the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion in 1996 and the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion in 1998. He was undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in 19902. He lost the WBA crown to John Ruiz in 2001.
| Evander Holyfield | |
|
Holyfield, right, with Heidi Klum |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Evander Holyfield |
| Nickname | The Real Deal |
| Weight |
Heavyweight Cruiserweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | October 19, 1962 |
| Birth place | Atmore, Alabama, U.S. |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 50 |
| Wins | 40 |
| Wins by KO | 26 |
| Losses | 8 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962 in Atmore, Alabama) is a professional boxer from the United States. Holyfield won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics (held in Los Angeles, California) after losing a controversial disqualification to New Zealand's Kevin Barry. Evander Holyfield is the only man to win the heavyweight championship of the world four times.
Boxing career
Born in Alabama, Holyfield and his family migrated to Atlanta in the summer of 1966. Holyfield began boxing at age 12 and won the Boys Club boxing tournament.
Cruiserweight
Holyfield debuted as a professional boxer with a nationally televised win in six rounds over Lionel Byarm at Madison Square Gardenon on 15th November 1984.
He began 1986 with a knockout in three over former world Cruiserweight challenger Chisanda Mutti, and proceeded to beat Jessy Shelby and Terry Mims before being given a world title try by the WBA's world Cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. In what was called by Ring Magazine as the best cruiserweight bout of the 1980s, Holyfield became world champion by defeating Qawi by a narrow 15 round unanimous decision. He retained his belt by a knockout in seven rounds, and then went on to unify his WBA belt with the IBF belt held by the IBF's world champion Ricky Parkey, knocking Parkey out in three rounds.
1988 was another productive year for Holyfield: He started by becoming the first, and as of April 2006, only universally recognized world Cruiserweight champion after knocking out the WBC's defending world champion Carlos De Leon in eight rounds at Las Vegas. For his third and final bout of '88, he beat former world Heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas, also by a knockout, in seven rounds.
Holyfield began 1989 meeting another former world Heavyweight champion, Michael Dokes. Holyfield won by a knockout in the tenth round, and then he met Brazilian champion Adilson Rodrigues, who lasted 2 rounds. His last fight of the 1980s was against Alex Stewart, a fringe contender who was beaten by Holyfield in eight by a technical knockout.
Years as Heavyweight champion
In 1990, Holyfield beat Seamus McDonaugh by a knockout in four, and was by then, ranked number 1 among the world's Heavyweight challengers. Holyfield became the undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world when he knocked the unmotivated and undertrained Douglas out in three rounds with a single right cross. Holyfield made the next defense in Atlanta against Bert Cooper, against whom he had to recover from the first knockdown suffered in his career when Cooper floored him in round three, but he recuperated and knocked Cooper out in round seven.
In his first fight of 1992, he faced former world Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, and retained the belt, once again by unanimous decision. In what is considered by many historians as one of the most bizarre moments in boxing's history, Holyfield had been taking solid jabs to the face from Bowe in round seven, when everyone in the crowd got off their feet and many people started to run for cover and yell. Twenty minutes later, calm was restored and Holyfield went on to recover his world heavyweight titles with a close 12 round majority decision.
Losing the Heavyweight crown
His next fight, April 1994, he met former WBO Light Heavyweight champion of the world Michael Moorer, who was attempting to become the first southpaw to become world Heavyweight champion. In 1995, Holyfield returned to the ring, with a ten round decision win versus another former world Heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist, Ray Mercer.
The heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield, banned from boxing because of a heart condition, went to a Benny Hinn crusade in Philadelphia, had Hinn lay hands on him, and gave Hinn a check for $265,000 after he was told he was healed. Tyson had recovered the WBC's and the WBA's world Heavyweight championship, and after being stripped of the WBC title for not facing Lennox Lewis, defended the WBA title against Holyfield on November 9 of that year. Tyson was heavily favored to win, but Holyfield made history by joining Muhammad Ali as the only two men ever to become world Heavyweight champions three times. In the third round, Tyson bit Holyfield on one of his ears, and he had two points deducted. Holyfield once again unified his WBA belt with the IBF belt by avenging his defeat to Moorer with a knockout win in eight.
In 1998, Holyfield had only one fight, making a mandatory defense against Vaughn Bean, who was defeated at the champion's hometown by a decision. Holyfield and Lewis were ordered by the three leading organizations of which they were champions to have an immediate rematch. The second time around, in November of that year, Lewis became the undisputed champion by beating Holyfield by a unanimous decision. Holyfield would later dispute the decision, saying that "everyone who watched it knows I won the fight".
Trilogy with John Ruiz
In 2000, Lewis was stripped of the WBA belt for failing to meet John Ruiz, and the WBA ordered Holyfield and Ruiz to meet for that organization's world title belt. Holyfield and Ruiz began their trilogy in August of that year, with Holyfield making history by winning on a controversial 12 round unanimous decision to become the first boxer in history to be the world's Heavyweight champion four times. The WBA ordered an immediate rematch, and seven months later, in March of 2001, it was Ruiz's turn to make history at Holyfield's expense when he beat Holyfield by a 12 round decision to become the first Hispanic ever to win the world's Heavyweight title. On December 15 of that year, Holyfield challenged Ruiz for the title, in an attempt to become the first boxer to win the Heavyweight title five times, but in a dreadfully dull fight, he only managed a 12 round draw in the completion of their trilogy. Byrd
2002 began as a promising year for Holyfield: in June, he met former world Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, to determine who would face Lewis next. Holyfield was leading on two of the three scorecards when he headbutted Rahman in round seven, and as a consequence, the judges had to determine the winner by going to the scorecards during the eighth round. So, the IBF decided to strip Lewis of his belt, and declared the winner of the fight between Holyfield and former WBO world Heavyweight champion Chris Byrd would be recognized as their world Heavyweight champion. So, on December 14 of '02, Holyfield once again tried to become the first man ever to be world's Heavyweight champion five times when he and Byrd met, but Byrd came out as the winner by an unanimous 12 round decision.
After the fight Holyfield told HBO Boxing's Larry Merchant that he plans to keep on going on with boxing.
Ongoing quest
On October 4, 2003, Holyfield lost to James Toney, by a technical knockout in round nine.
At age 42, Holyfield returned to the ring to face Larry Donald on November 13, 2004.
In August 2005, the New York Daily News reported the New York State Athletic Commission has banned Evander Holyfield from boxing in New York, even though Holyfield passed a battery of medical tests.
Holyfield defeated Jeremy Bates by TKO on August 18, 2006 in a 10 round bout at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Holyfield dominated the fight which was stopped in the second round after Holyfield laid a flurry of punches on Bates.
Holyfield defeated Fres Oquendo by unanimous decision on November 10, 2006 in San Antonio, TX. Holyfield knocked Oquendo down in the first minute of the first round and continued to be the aggressor throughout the fight, winning by scores of 116-111 and 114-113 (twice).
Life outside the ring
By 1992, Holyfield was already a household name, announcing multiple products on television, such as Coca Cola and their sugar-free sidekick Diet Coke.
In 1998 Holyfield was forced to announce that he believed to have as many as nine children out of wedlock, and his marriage was affected by that announcement.
He founded Real Deal Records who signed the shortly successful group Exhale
On July 3, 2003, Holyfield wed for the third time, marrying 24 year old student Candi Calvana Smith.
Holyfield's popularity has led to numerous television appearances for the boxer. In 2005, Holyfield made an appearance on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and another on the original BBC Strictly Come Dancing "Champion of Champions" showdown, which featured the final four teams from the 2005 edition of the British series, plus two celebrities from spinoff versions, paired with British professional dancers, one featuring Holyfield paired with Karen Hardy, and Rachel Hunter paired with Darren Cole.
User Comments Add a comment…