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1.0 Early life

2.0 Professional career

2.1 Light-Heavyweight

2.2 Cruiserweight

2.3 Heavyweight

2.4 Heavyweight champion: 1990-1992

2.5 Losing the heavyweight crown again: Michael Moorer

2.6 Holyfield vs. Tyson I & II; The Bite Fight

2.7 Avenging the Moorer defeat

2.8 Holyfield vs. Lewis I & II

2.9 Trilogy with John Ruiz

2.10 Holyfield vs. Byrd

2.11 Consecutive losses & New York suspension

2.12 Comeback

2.13 Allegations of steroid and HGH use

3.0 Life outside the ring

4.0 Professional boxing record

5.0 See also

6.0 References

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Evander Holyfield Wiki Information

Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is a professional boxer from the United States and a multiple world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal". Holyfield won the bronze medal in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics after a controversial disqualification in the semifinal. He is the only boxer to win the heavyweight title four times.

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Early life

Born in Atmore, Alabama, Holyfield and his family moved to Atlanta in the summer of 1964, at the age of two. Holyfield began boxing at age 12 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 KO.

Amateur medal record

Bronze	1984 Summer Olympics	1984 Los Angeles

Silver	1983 Pan American Games	Caracas 1983

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. ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Professional career

Light-Heavyweight

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 13th, he knocked out Fred Brown in the first round in Norfolk, Virginia, and on April 20th, he knocked out Mark Rivera in two rounds in Corpus Christi, Texas.

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. Evander went on to knock out Rick Myers in the first round on August 29th in Holyfield's hometown of Atlanta. On October 30th in Atlantic City he knocked out opponent Jeff Meachem in five rounds, and his last fight for 1985 was against Anthony Davis on December 21st 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'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 split decision. He culminated 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 by a knockout in seven rounds, 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 '87, he offered Muhammad Qawi a rematch, and this time, he beat Qawi by a knockout in four.

1988 was another productive year for Holyfield; he started by becoming the first universally recognized world cruiserweight champion after defeating the WBC's defending world champion Carlos De León at the Las Vegas. The fight was stopped after eight rounds. ^[4]

Heavyweight

After that fight, he announced he was moving up in weight to pursue the world heavyweight crown 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, NV (Tillis had gone the distance with Tyson). For his third and final bout of '88, he beat former world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas, also by knockout, in seven rounds.

Holyfield began 1989 meeting another former world heavyweight champion, Michael Dokes. This fight would also be 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 tenth 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 1 contender for two years and had yet to receive a shot at Tyson's heavyweight title.

Heavyweight champion: 1990-1992

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. James Douglas defeated the 23-year old, 218 lb. Mike Tyson in ten rounds in Tokyo to become the new undisputed heavyweight champion. Instead of fighting Tyson, Holyfield would be Douglas' first title defense.

They met on October 25, 1990. Douglas came into the fight at 246 lbs. and offered little in the fight against Holyfield, who was in great shape at 208 lbs. In the third round Douglas tried to start a combination with a big right uppercut. Holyfield countered with a straight right hand that was lightning quick, 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 in 12. The fight was billed as a "Battle for the Ages", a reference to the age differential 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 would fight in 1996 (Holyfield won by a TKO in 11) and a rematch in 1997 (Holyfield won by disqualification in 3, after Tyson bit both of his ears).

Holyfield made his next defense in Atlanta against Bert Cooper, who surprised him 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 8-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 would snap Cooper's head back. Referee Mills Lane stopped the bout in the seventh.

In his first fight of 1992, he faced former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, who was 42 years old, 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 main difference in the fight was that the younger Holyfield could muster the energy to fight for the full three minutes of each round, while the older and more experienced Holmes could not. The fight ended with a unanimous decision in favor of Holyfield.

In the beginning of a trilogy of bouts with the 25-year old Riddick Bowe, who had won a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics, in the Super Heavyweight division, he suffered his first defeat when Bowe won the undisputed title by a 12-round unanimous decision in Las Vegas. Round Ten of that bout was named the Round of the Year by Ring Magazine. Holyfield was knocked down in round 11. He made the mistake of getting into a slugfest with the younger, bigger and stronger Bowe, leading to his defeat.

He began 1993 by beating Alex Stewart in a rematch, but this time over the 12-round unanimous distance.

Then came the rematch with Bowe on November 6, 1993. In what is considered by many sporting historians as one of the most bizarre moments in boxing's history, during round seven the crowd got off their feet and many people started to run for cover and yell. Holyfield took his eyes off Bowe for one moment and then told Bowe to look up to the skies. What they saw was a man in a parachute flying dangerously close to them. The man almost entered the ring, but his parachute had gotten entangled in the lights, and he landed on the ropes and apron of the ring, and he was then pulled into the crowd, where he was beaten by members of Bowe's entourage. Bowe's pregnant wife, Judy, fainted and had to be taken to the hospital from the arena. Twenty minutes later, calm was restored and Holyfield went on to recover his world heavyweight titles with a close 12 round majority decision. The man who parachuted down to the middle of the ring became known as The Fan Man and the fight itself became known as the Fan Man Fight. His victory over Bowe that year helped Holyfield being named as ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year for 1993.

Losing the heavyweight crown again: Michael Moorer

His next fight, April 1994, he met former WBO light heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world Michael Moorer, who was attempting to become the first southpaw to become the universally recognised world heavyweight champion. He dropped Moorer in round two, but lost a twelve round majority decision. When he went to the hospital to have his shoulder checked, he was diagnosed with a heart condition, and had to announce his retirement from boxing. It would later surface that the chairman of the medical advisory board for the Nevada State Athletic Commission believed his condition to be consistent with HGH use. ^[5]

However, watching a television show hosted by preacher Benny Hinn, Holyfield says he felt his heart heal. He and Hinn subsequently became friends, and he became a frequent visitor to Hinn's crusades. In fact, during this time, Holyfield 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. He then passed his next examination by the boxing commission. Holyfield would later state that his heart was misdiagnosed due to the morphine pumped into his body.

In 1995, Holyfield returned to the ring with a ten round decision win versus former Olympic gold medalist, Ray Mercer. He was the first man to knock down Mercer.

Holyfield and Bowe then had their rubber match. Holyfield knocked Bowe down with a single left hook but Bowe prevailed, by a knockout in eight. Holyfield would later claim that he contracted Hepatitis A before the fight. ^[6]

Holyfield vs. Tyson I & II; The Bite Fight

1996 was a very good year for Holyfield. First, he met former world champion Bobby Czyz, beating him by a knockout in six. Then, he and Mike Tyson finally met.

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 defeating Tyson in an 11th round TKO decision and joining Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis as the only three men ever to become world heavyweight champions three times. He also joined Ali, former rival De Leon, Sugar Ray Robinson and Marvin Johnson among others, in the club of men who have reigned three or more times in the same division, with his victory.

Holyfield's next fight would also go into the annals of boxing as one of the most bizarre fights in history. Holyfield gave Tyson the rematch on June 28, 1997, in what became known as The Bite Fight . The infamous incident occurred in the third round, when Tyson bit Holyfield on one of his ears, and had two points deducted. The referee decided to disqualify Tyson initially, but after Holyfield and his doctor intervened saying they wanted to continue, relented and allowed the fight to go on. However, Tyson went on to bite Holyfield again, this time on the other ear. Tyson, with his teeth, tore off the top of his ear known as the helix and spitting the flesh out on the ring.

The immediate aftermath of the incident was greeted by instant bedlam. Tyson was disqualified and a melee ensued. Tyson claimed his bites were a retaliation to Holyfield's unchecked headbutts, which had cut him in both fights.

Avenging the Moorer defeat

Next came another rematch, this time against Michael Moorer, who had recovered the IBF's world title. Holyfield knocked Moorer to the canvas five times and referee Mitch Halpern stopped the fight between the eighth and ninth rounds under the advice of physician Flip Homansky. Holyfield once again unified his WBA belt with the IBF belt by avenging his defeat to Moorer.

In 1998 Holyfield had only one fight, making a mandatory defense against Vaughn Bean, who was defeated by decision at the Georgia Dome in the champion's hometown. For the first time, Holyfield's performance called into question whether age was diminishing his ability to continue as a championship fighter. ^[7]

Holyfield vs. Lewis I & II

By 1999, the public was clamoring for a unification bout versus the WBC's world champion, Lennox Lewis of the United Kingdom. That bout happened in March of that year. The bout was declared a controversial draw after twelve rounds, where it appeared to most that Lewis dominated the fight. Holyfield claimed his performance was hindered by stomach and leg cramps ^[8]. 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 via unanimous decision by three American judges. Holyfield said "I haven't felt this good after a fight since I was a cruiserweight," Holyfield said. "It makes me think I should have fought a little harder against Lennox. Maybe I'd be sore and sick, but I'd have the victory." ^[9]

Trilogy with John Ruiz

In 2000, Lewis was stripped of the WBA belt for failing to meet lightly-regarded Don King fighter John Ruiz, having fought Ruiz's conqueror David Tua, 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, but unanimous 12 round decision to become the first boxer in history to be the world's heavyweight champion four times. Holyfield blamed his lackluster performance on a perforated (broken) eardrum. ^[10]

Seven months later, in March 2001, it was Ruiz's turn to make history at Holyfield's expense when he surprisingly managed to knock Holyfield down and beat him 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 champion again. The fight was declared a draw, and John Ruiz maintained the WBA championship belt.

Holyfield vs. 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 the fight was stopped in the eighth round due to a severe hematoma on Rahman's forehead that was caused by a headbutt earlier in the fight. Holyfield was ahead, so he was declared the winner by a technical decision.

The IBF decided to strip Lewis of his belt after he didn't want to fight Don King-promoted fighter Chris Byrd, instead going after Tyson, and declared that the winner of the fight between Holyfield and former WBO heavyweight champion Byrd would be recognized as their heavyweight champion. So, on December 14 2002, Holyfield once again tried to become the first man ever to be heavyweight champion five times when he and Byrd met, but Byrd came out as the winner by a 12-round unanimous decision.

Consecutive losses & New York suspension

On October 4, 2003, Holyfield lost to James Toney by TKO when his corner threw in the towel in the ninth round. At age 42, Holyfield returned to the ring to face Larry Donald on November 13, 2004. He lost his third consecutive match in a twelve round unanimous decision.

In August 2005 it had been reported that the New York State Athletic Commission had banned Evander Holyfield from boxing in New York due to "diminishing skills" despite the fact that Holyfield had passed a battery of medical tests.

Comeback

Holyfield was initially criticized for his ongoing comeback; but he is adamant that his losses to Toney and Donald were the result of a shoulder injury, not of old age. Holyfield had looked better in his first four fights since Donald, and appeared to have answered the critics who say that he lacks the cutting edge and ability to follow up on crucial openings that he had in his youth.

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 he landed roughly twenty consecutive punches on Bates.

Holyfield defeated Fres Oquendo by unanimous decision on November 10, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas. Holyfield knocked Oquendo down in the first minute of the first round and continued to be the aggressor throughout the fight, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 116-111, and 114-113 twice.

On March 17, 2007, Holyfield defeated Vinny Maddalone by TKO when Maddalone's corner threw in the towel to save their man from serious injury in the ring.

On June 30, 2007, Holyfield defeated Lou Savarese, knocking the bigger and heavier Savarese down in the fourth and again in the ninth round, en route to a unanimous decision win. This was Holyfield's fourth win in ten months, two of them by KO. This victory finally set the stage for Holyfield's title fight, against Sultan Ibragimov, for the WBO heavyweight title.

On October 13, 2007, Holyfield was defeated by Sultan Ibragimov. Although unable to defy his critics by winning a fifth heavyweight title, Holyfield refused to be backed up by the young champion and even rattled him in the closing part of the 12th round. The fight was mostly uneventful, however, with neither fighter being truly staggered or knocked down. In most exchanges, Sultan was able to land two punches to Holyfield's one. The end result was a unanimous decision for Ibragimov, with scores of 118-110, and 117-111 twice.

He told BBC Scotland's Sports Weekly "I'm gonna fight, be the heavyweight champion of the world one more time. Then I'm gonna write another book and tell everybody how I did it." On December 20, 2008 he fought, at the Hallenstadion in Zürich Switzerland, the WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev for a paycheck of $600,000, the lowest amount he has ever received for a championship fight. At the weigh-in, he weighed 214 pounds, Valuev weighed a career low of 310 pounds.

Valuev defeated Holyfield by a highly controversial majority decision after a relatively uneventful bout. One judge scored the bout a draw 114-114, while the others had Valuev winning 116-112 and 115-114. Many analysts were outraged at the decision, thinking Holyfield had clearly won. ^[11] There is already talk of a rematch in 2009.

The WBA did their own investigation into the controversial decision; ^[12] "As the World Boxing Association (WBA) always cares about and respects the fans’ and the media’s opinion, the Championship Committee has ordered a panel of judges to review the tape of the fight between Nikolai Valuev and Evander Holyfield, for the WBA heavyweight title," read a statement from the WBA. The organization also expressed that they "will give a decision accordingly in the following weeks." Although it's unclear as to what actions the association could take once their investigation concludes, many speculate that an immediate rematch will most likely be the scenario.

Allegations of steroid and HGH use

On February 28, 2007, Holyfield was anonymously linked to Applied Pharmacy Services, a pharmacy in Alabama that is currently under investigation for supplying athletes with illegal steroids and human growth hormone (HGH). He denies ever using performance enhancers. ^[13]

Holyfield's name does not appear in the law enforcement documents reviewed. However, a patient by the name of "Evan Fields" caught investigators' attention. "Fields" shares the same birth date as Holyfield - Oct. 19, 1962. The listed address for "Fields" was 794 Evander, Fairfield, Ga. 30213. Holyfield has a very similar address. When the phone number that, according to the documents, was associated with the "Fields" prescription, was dialed, Holyfield answered. ^[14]

On March 10, 2007 Holyfield made a public announcement that he would be pursuing his own investigation into the steroid claims in order to clear his name. ^[15]

Holyfield was again linked to HGH in September 2007, when his name came up following a raid of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, FL. ^[16] s of {{MONTHNAME 2007 , Signature Pharmacy is under investigation for illegally supplying several professional athletes with steroids and HGH. ^[17]

Life outside the ring

Holyfield is the younger brother of actor and dancer, Bernard Holyfield, and currently lives and trains in Fayette County, Georgia with his third wife Candi and their two children; he has at least eleven children.

By 1992, Holyfield was already a household name, announcing multiple products on television, such as Coca Cola and Diet Coke. He also had a video game released for the Sega Genesis and the Sega Game Gear: Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing . After his conversion, he started professing his Christianity everywhere, reminding the public before and after his fights that he is a born-again Christian.

In 1996 Holyfield was given the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch when it was on its way to his hometown of Atlanta for that year's Olympics. October 4 of this year he was married to Dr. Janice Itson, with whom he had one child.

He founded Real Deal Records which signed the briefly successful group Exhale.

On September 22, 2007 Holyfield released the Real Deal Grill cooking appliance via TV infomercials. The Real Deal Grill is manufactured by Cirtran Corp.

Holyfield's popularity has led to numerous television appearances for the boxer. His first television show appearance was the Christmas special of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990, playing himself. In 2005, Holyfield came in fifth place on ABC's Dancing with the Stars with his partner Edyta Sliwinska. He also made an appearance 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 Brendan Cole. Holyfield also had minor roles in three movies during the 1990s, Summer of Sam , Necessary Roughness , and Blood Salvage (which he also produced). He made a guest appearance on Nickelodeon's Figure It Out during its third season in 1994. He appeared once in an episode of Phineas and Ferb . In the episode he is an animated character but the producers wanted to make the most of Holyfield's ear, so his animated character was only given half an ear.

On August 13, 2007, Holyfield was confirmed to participate in a boxing match at World Wrestling Entertainment's Saturday Night's Main Event against Matt Hardy. He replaced Montel Vontavious Porter, who had to pull out after being diagnosed with a heart condition.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Holyfield was among a number of celebrities to be doing television ads for the restaurant chain Zaxby's.

In June 2008 a legal notice was placed by Washington Mutual Bank stating that Holyfield's $10 million, 54,000 square foot, 109 room, 17 bathroom suburban Atlanta estate would be auctioned off on July 1, 2008 due to foreclosure. Adding to his financial problems, Toi Irvin, mother of his 10 year old son, filed suit for non-payment of two months child support (he pays $3,000 per month for this child). A Utah landscaping firm also has gone to court seeking $550,000 in unpaid debt for services. ^[18]