Is Holyfield’s Time Finally Up?

By Garth McLennan

E it finally time for Evander ‘The real
deal’ Holyfield to hang up the gloves?
The former four-time world title holder
lost a unanimous decision to WBO
champion Sultan [bragimov on October
13 in his quest to become a five-time
world heavyweight champ.

Holyfield retired in 2003 but returned
to the ring in 2004 at 42 years old, losing
to Larry Donald for his third consecutive
defeat. Holyfield returned to face heavy
criticism, which was furthered after he
was barred from fighting in New York
due to deteriorating abilities. This ruling
was passed despite Holyfield passing
the physical and medical exams. Think
Rocky VI on a larger scale.

After his initial loss to Donald,
Holyfield was victorious in his next four
matches. However, the critics didn’t go
away as his opponents weren’t exactly
the cream of the boxing crop. Despite
this though, Holyfield was to battle
Ibragimov for what would have been his
fifth world heavyweight title. No one has
ever captured five world heavyweight
championships before, and Holyfield has
vowed to not call it quits until he becomes
the first. Whatever you think of him, you
- cannot deny the man’s tremendous heart
and passion.

Holyfield, who has a career record
of 42-9-2, with 27 KOs, is 44, with
his dream of winning a fifth world
crown fast evaporating. The Ibragimov
fight may have been one of his last
opportunities. However that is unlikely to
deter Holyfield, who has had a fabulous
career.

Evander Holyfield represented
the US at the 1983 Pan American
games, winning the silver medal. In

 

1984, he won a bronze medal in the
LA Olympics, competing in the light-
heavyweight division. He likely would
have finished higher had the referee not
made a bad call. The ref told the fighters
to break when they shouldn’t have, and
Holyfield, who failed to hear the call,
floored his opponent, Kevin Barry,

and was disqualified. The referee later
apologized, but the damage was done.
The same year, Holyfield won the
national Golden Gloves championship.
After turning pro, Holyfield quickly

best cruiserweight match of the 80s. After
several impressive fights, Holyfield was
named the number one contender.

In one of the biggest upsets in history,
unheard of pugilist Buster Douglas had

won the WBA shocked MikeTyson
cruiserweight for the heavyweight
crown in what “Wh championship.
has been called atever YOU Hotyficld had
the greatest accepted a_ large

cruiserweight
bout of the 1980s
against Dwight
Muhammad Qawi.
He would then
become the only
man in boxing
history to unify the
cruiserweighttitles
from different
boxing councils,
defeating WBC’s
cruiserweight
champ, Carlos
De Leon in, 1988.
Holyfield would
vacate the titles
to pursue Mike Tyson’s heavyweight
championship as he moved up the weight
class.

Holyfield would establish a reputation
swiftly as a heavyweight, as he beat
former world champions in two of his
first three matches. This included a
classic clash against Michael Dokes,
which Ring magazine would call the
greatest heavyweight bout of the 1980s. It
was Ring magazine that gave Holyfield’s
match with Qawi the distinction of the

 

think of him,
you cannot
deny the man’s
tremendous
heart and
passion.”

cash donation to
let Douglas fight
Tyson before him.
Holyfield was the
first combatant to
battle Douglas for
the title, and he
defeated him easily,
knocking him out
in the third round.
Holyfield’s first title
defence was against
the legendary
George Foreman,
and he successfully
defended his title.
Holyfield held the
belt until November 1992, when he lost
the championship in the first of three
battles with the undefeated Riddick
Bowe. It was Holyfield’s fist loss as a
heavyweight. He regained the title from
Bowe in November of 93, in a bizarre
match in which a man attempted to
parachute down to the ring. This ended
Bowe’s 35-match undefeated streak after
a 12-round decision. After this, Holyfield
was named ABC’s Wide World of Sport’s
1993 athlete of the year.

He would then drop the title to Michael
Moorer in his first defence after suffering
a dislocated shoulder in the match.

Holyfield would capture his record
tying third heavyweight title by besting
Mike Tyson in 1996 ina huge upset. In the
Tyson rematch, the fight would become
infamous for Tyson taking a chunk out of
Holyfield’s ear after repeated head butts
from the champ. Tyson was disqualified.

Holyfield would battle Lennox
Lewis to a controversial draw in a
title-unification match in 1999. In the
rematch, Holyfield lost the title fight by
a unanimous decision. After Lewis was
stripped of the title in 2000, Holyfield met
the new champion, John Ruiz, winning
the belt back. He would lose the title in a
rematch, and the third fight between the
two resulted in a lacklustre draw.

Holyfield would make his last attempt
at a fifth title before retiring when he
fought Chris Byrd, but he lost in a 12-
round judgment.

So now here he is the fading star who
came painfully close to capturing a fifth
title in Moscow on the 13. However, if
this look back on Holyfield’s career has
taught us anything, it is that he is a true
fighter, one of the greatest of all time.
He just keeps coming back, like all great
champions do, and that is reason enough
to never bet against what this guy can
accomplish.

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