I beat Larry Holmes and George Foreman. I whupped Mike Tyson twice. I had my ear chewed off and spat on the ground in front of me. I've seen everything it is possible to see in boxing. I know this business better than anyone. So I live and die by my own decisions.
HOW IT ALL
STARTED
Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
Evander Holyfield was born on October 19, 1962, in the mill town of Atmore, Alabama. The youngest of nine children, Holyfield was much younger than his other siblings and was born to a different father. Holyfield's family later moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
Holyfield describes himself as a physical "late bloomer": upon graduating from Fulton High School in 1980, he was only 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall and weighed only 147 pounds (67 kg). By age 21, he had grown to 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) and weighed 178 pounds (81 kg). He grew an additional 2+1⁄2 inches (6.4 cm) in his early 20s, finally reaching his adult height of 6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1.89 m).
EARLY YEARS
He began boxing at age eight and won the Boys Club boxing tournament. At 13, he qualified to compete in his first Junior Olympics. By age 15, Holyfield became the Southeastern Regional Champion, winning this tournament and the Best Boxer Award. By 1984 he had a record of 160 wins and 14 losses, with 76 by knockout.
When he was 20 years old, Holyfield represented the U.S. in the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, where he won a silver medal after losing to Cuban world champion Pablo Romero. The following year, he was the National Golden Gloves Champion, and won a bronze medal in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, after a controversial disqualification in the second round of the semi-final against New Zealand's Kevin Barry.
THE AMATEURS
Holyfield started out professionally as a light heavyweight with a televised win in six rounds over Lionel Byarm at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 1984. On January 20, 1985, he won another six-round decision over Eric Winbush in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On March 13, he knocked out Fred Brown in the first round in Norfolk, Virginia, and on April 20, he knocked out Mark Rivera in two rounds in Corpus Christi, Texas.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
CRUISERWEIGHT
Both he and his next opponent, Tyrone Booze, moved up to the cruiserweight division for their fight on July 20, 1985, in Norfolk, Virginia. Holyfield won an eight-round decision over Booze. He then went on to knock out Rick Myers in the first round on August 29 in his hometown of Atlanta. On October 30 in Atlantic City Holyfield knocked out opponent Jeff Meachem in five rounds, and his last fight for 1985 was against Anthony Davis on December 21 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He won by knocking out Davis in the fourth round.
He began 1986 with a knockout in three rounds 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 Cruiserweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. In what was called by The Ring as the best cruiserweight bout of the 1980s, Holyfield became world champion by defeating Qawi by a narrow 15-round split decision. He culminated in 1986 with a trip to Paris, France, where he beat Mike Brothers by a knockout in three, in a non-title bout.
In 1987, he defended his title against former Olympic teammate and Gold medal winner Henry Tillman, who had beaten Mike Tyson twice as an amateur. He retained his belt, winning by seventh-round knockout, and then went on to unify his WBA belt with the IBF belt held by Ricky Parkey, knocking Parkey out in three rounds. For his next bout, he returned to France, where he retained the title with an eleven-round knockout against former world champion Ossie Ocasio. In his last fight of 1987, he offered Muhammad Qawi a rematch and, this time, he beat Qawi by a knockout in only four rounds.
1988 was another productive year for Holyfield; he started by becoming the first universally recognized World Cruiserweight Champion after defeating the Lineal & WBC Champion Carlos De León at Las Vegas. The fight was stopped after eight rounds.
HEAVYWEIGHT
Main articles: Evander Holyfield vs. James Tillis, Evander Holyfield vs. Pinklon Thomas, Michael Dokes vs. Evander Holyfield, Evander Holyfield vs. Adílson Rodrigues, Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart, and Evander Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh
After that fight, he announced he was moving up in weight to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship held by Tyson. His first fight as a Heavyweight took place on July 16, when he beat former Tyson rival James "Quick" Tillis by a knockout in five, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Tillis had gone the distance with Tyson). For his third and final bout of 1988, he beat former Heavyweight Champion Pinklon Thomas, also by knockout, in seven rounds.
Holyfield began 1989 meeting another former Heavyweight Champion, Michael Dokes. This fight was named one of the best fights of the 1980s by Ring magazine, as best heavyweight bout of the 1980s. Holyfield won by a knockout in the 10th round, and then he met Brazilian Champion Adilson Rodrigues, who lasted two rounds. His last fight of the 1980s was against Alex Stewart, a hard punching fringe contender. Stewart shocked Holyfield early, with quick, hard punches, but eventually fell in eight.
In 1990, Holyfield beat Seamus McDonagh, knocking him out in four rounds. By this time, Holyfield had been Ring Magazine's number-one contender for two years and had yet to receive a shot at Tyson's Heavyweight title.
UNIFIED WORLD CHAMPION
Holyfield had been promised a title shot against Tyson in 1990. Before that fight could occur, in what many consider to be the biggest upset in boxing history, relatively unknown boxer, 29-year-old, 231 lb. Buster Douglas defeated the 23-year-old, 218 lb. Mike Tyson in 10 rounds in Tokyo to become the new undisputed heavyweight champion. Instead of fighting Tyson, Holyfield was Douglas's first title defense.
They met on October 25, 1990. Douglas came into the fight at 246 lb. and offered little in the fight against Holyfield, who was in ideal shape at 208 lb. In the third round Douglas tried to start a combination with a big right uppercut. Holyfield countered with a straight right hand and Douglas went down for the count. Holyfield was the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the World. At the time of the knockout, Holyfield was ahead on all three judges' scorecards, all seeing it 20–18 for Holyfield.
In his first defense, he beat former and future world champion George Foreman by unanimous decision. The fight was billed as a "Battle for the Ages", a reference to the age difference between the young undefeated champion (28 years old) and the much older George Foreman (42 years old). Holyfield weighed in at 208 pounds and Foreman weighed in at 257 pounds. Foreman lost the fight by a unanimous decision, but surprised many by lasting the whole 12 rounds against a much younger opponent, even staggering Holyfield a few times and knocking him off balance in the seventh round.
Then a deal was signed for him to defend his crown against Mike Tyson in November 1991. Tyson delayed the fight, claiming he was injured in training, but was then convicted for the rape of Desiree Washington and sentenced to six years in prison, so the fight did not happen at that time. They fought in 1996 (Holyfield won by a TKO in 11) and a rematch in 1997 (Holyfield won by disqualification in three, after Tyson bit both of his ears).
Holyfield made his next defense in Atlanta against late replacement in Bert Cooper over Francesco Damiani who suffered a foot injury in training days before the fight, Cooper surprised Holyfield with a very good effort. Holyfield scored the first knockdown of the fight against Cooper with a powerful shot to the body, but Cooper returned the favor with a good right hand that sent Holyfield against the ropes; while not an actual knockdown, referee Mills Lane gave Holyfield a standing eight-count. Having suffered the first technical knockdown of his professional career, Holyfield regained his composure quickly and administered a beating that left Cooper still on his feet, but unable to defend himself. Holyfield landed brutal power shots, culminated by repeated vicious uppercuts that snapped Cooper's head back. Referee Mills Lane stopped the bout in the seventh.
In his first fight of 1992, he faced 42 year old former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, and had just pulled off an upset against Ray Mercer. During the bout, Holyfield suffered the first scar of his career with a gash opening up over his eye, the result of Holmes' elbow. The fight ended with a unanimous decision in favor of Holyfield.
