leerhodes Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 One of my favourite boxers to watch over the years has been Evander Holyfield in a rollercoaster career,he fought the best around in some great battles and gave his all. Just thought id post some of his stats. 1984-Olympic lightheavyweight bronze medal 1986-Won WBA Cruiseweight title after 12 pro fights. 1988-Became undisputed cruiserweight champion 1990-KO Buster Douglas in round 3 to become undisputed heavyweight champion 1992-Lost his titles to Riddick Bowe 1993-Regained WBA-IBF tltles by beating Riddick Bowe 1994-Lost titles to Micheal Moorer 1996- Beat Tyson for WBA title 1997-Beat Tyson by dq in ear biting episode 1999-Lost title to Lennox LEWIS 2000-Won vacant WBA title against John Ruiz 2001-Lost title to Ruiz I thought he was the REAL DEAL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBride Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Yep. He was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mofo2 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I ve got to agree aswell..Evander in his heyday was as good as they come..he had all the best attributes for a fighter..notably Heart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintballdan Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Without a doubt. Fought anyone and beat the best around while taking some serious punishment. Legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 He certainly was the 'Real Deal'. He tore through the Cruiserweight division and did it with relatively few fights. Going 15 hard rounds with a season champion in Qawi in only his 12th fight, was an indicator of what Holyfield had to offer; heart and a never say die attitude. I loved his fights with Tillman and Parkey and he really looked like the man who would challenge Tysons Heavyweight supremacy. He just seemed to have that style and toughness to live with the peak Tyson. Obviously, Tyson wasn't there when Holyfield got to challenge for the title and unfortunately and out of shape Buster Douglas was champ. Over the years Holy gave us great fights with the bigger Riddick Bowe, technical fights with Michael Moorer and the infamous clashes with Mike Tyson. Holyfields attitude drove him to the top but maybe that attitude keeps fighting well past his prime. Great fighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintballdan Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Without a doubt. Never ducked a fight, fought the best & had some hard, hard fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlingsiki Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 A great no doubt. Loved his Cruiserweight fights with Deleon and Qawi. When he debuted at heavyweight wow! Loved his first fight with Alex Stewart-my fave Holyfield fight. Only wished he fought M Spinks back in 1987 and Tyson in 1990. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 I think Evander achieved all he could, undisputed champ at both Cruiser and Heavy is damn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheils Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Absolutely - he has the heart of a lion and his record speaks for itself. His first fight with Tyson is a classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonRingRules Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 I dont think anyone will doubt Holyfield's courage, will to win and heart, usually fighting opponents with better physical tools than him. From his epic 15 rounder war with Qawi, were he lost 15lb of fluids and had to be hospitalised, to developing himself into a heavyweight and becomming Tysons no.1 (and ducked IMO) challenger to the Hvy title; beating Buster Douglas and becomming Heavyweight champion. Taking oon the more experienced Holmes and heavy handed George Foreman, rematching Bowe another 2 times, having vetricle problems in his loss to Moorer but avenging it brutally, being picked as a soft touch for the comebacking Tyson- and out-bullying Tyson to shatter his myth of invincability; the Lewis fights, Ruiz 3 times, taking on the slick James Toney and Valuev in Europe..was a fighter ever more aptly named? ------ Funny, but Mike Spinks fairly easily handled a much better trained prime Qawi than the bloated version that UnHoly fought. How could Tyson duck the ol' git when they were never in the same divisions until 88 when Tyson was still busy unifying the division in a fashion that has never been seen before or since? Was the most storied plan by the best, most HOF packed boxing team in history supposed to be tossed when UnHoly suddenly decided to start taking vitamins? Nobody has ever doubted the ring courage of UnHoly, but his intelligence and physical development are questionable. If he thought he could beat Tyson he should have got on his vitamins from the gitgo instead of hiding out in the weakest division in boxing. As it is, he should be on his knees in prayer to Tyson, because without the legacy of Tyson, the ol' git's career is pretty patchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlingsiki Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Reg Gutteridge once said that Tyson-Holyfield sparred as amateurs at a event (Jnr Olympics?) and it was so violent they stopped it. Interesting stuff. The other story (also at the same event/camp) was when Holyfield was playing Pool with a pal and Tyson tried to grab the pool cue from Evander mid game. Evander resisted and when Tyson realised Holy was having none of it-Tyson laughed and made a joke of it. Holy then carried on with his game but maybe Tyson realised something then? Only relaying what i have read and heard-i personally say the Tyson 1986-88 variant whups any variant of Evander as a heavyweight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlingsiki Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Always wanted to see Holyfield face Ruddock, Tony Tucker and Tim Witherspoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapevine241 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 i was never a fan but yeah he was the real deal though i think he has become overrated since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathrines Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 yes the real deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obama Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Definitely a top 10 Heavyweight in my book, notable wins include the following: Dwight Muhammad Qawi (x2) Ricky Parkey Ossie Ocasio Carlos De Leon Pinklon Thomas Michael Dokes Adilson Rodrigues Alex Stewart (x2) James 'Buster' Douglas George Foreman Bert Cooper Larry Holmes Riddick Bowe Ray Mercer Mike Tyson (x2) Michael Moorer John Ruiz Hasim Rahman Fres Oquendo And he definitely beat Valuev, which should have made him a 5 time Heavyweight World Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jspivey419 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Evander Holyfield = Greatness. Man never backed down against anyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 It's a shame he won't retire though. We don't need another tragic story about yet another fighter that didn't know when to call it a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimmy Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Imagine if the first Lennox lewis fight had been awarded to Holyfield ( only one point in it despite the scandalas scorecards ). If Evander had retired undisputed champ....his record would have stood with Ali and Lious easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Imagine if the first Lennox lewis fight had been awarded to Holyfield ( only one point in it despite the scandalas scorecards ). If Evander had retired undisputed champ....his record would have stood with Ali and Lious easily Not as good as those two. Ali in particular fought when the heavyweight division was at it's peak talent wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jango Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 yes he was the real deal all the way a true souljan & still is shame there arnt more like him i still enjoy holyfields fights now .tho it is a bit like meeting up with an old girlfriend you should not but u still go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamasadlittleboy Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Definitely a top 10 Heavyweight in my book, notable wins include the following: Dwight Muhammad Qawi (x2) Ricky Parkey Ossie Ocasio Carlos De Leon Pinklon Thomas Michael Dokes Adilson Rodrigues Alex Stewart (x2) James 'Buster' Douglas George Foreman Bert Cooper Larry Holmes Riddick Bowe Ray Mercer Mike Tyson (x2) Michael Moorer John Ruiz Hasim Rahman Fres Oquendo And he definitely beat Valuev, which should have made him a 5 time Heavyweight World Champion. Hmmm a lot of those wins were either at Cruiser or against shot/old (Holmes/Foreman) or not very good heavy's (Rahman, Ruiz, Oquendo). a great warrior but not a top 10 and most certainly not a top 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm25 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 How could he not be the real deal? The only reason I can think of is if you haven't watched enough of his fights. He wasn't great every time he went out there, but I can't name many heavyweights that have the same amount of slugfests on their resumé. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Reg Gutteridge once said that Tyson-Holyfield sparred as amateurs at a event (Jnr Olympics?) and it was so violent they stopped it. Interesting stuff. The other story (also at the same event/camp) was when Holyfield was playing Pool with a pal and Tyson tried to grab the pool cue from Evander mid game. Evander resisted and when Tyson realised Holy was having none of it-Tyson laughed and made a joke of it. Holy then carried on with his game but maybe Tyson realised something then? Only relaying what i have read and heard-i personally say the Tyson 1986-88 variant whups any variant of Evander as a heavyweight. Would have been great to see them sparring all those years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juaasu Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 He was a great boxer but not a awesome one, he couldn´t get KO with a very old FOreman and a very old Holmes. If Foreman or Holmes were young....... Evander ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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