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Evander Holyfield (born 19 October 1962) is a
professional boxing|boxer who has earned millions
of dollars and made history, most notably by
becoming the first boxer to become the heavyweight
champion of the world four times. He won a bronze
medal at the 1984 Los Angeles, California|Los
Angeles Olympic Games after losing a controversial
disqualification to New Zealand's Kevin Barry
(boxer)|Kevin Barry. His nickname is The Real
Deal.
==Career==
Evander Holyfield debuted as a professional boxer
with a nationally televised win in six rounds over
Lionel Byarm at the Madison Square Garden,
November 15, 1984. He immediately began stepping
up in class, as he began 1985 with a win over Eric
Winbush, a fighter who had beaten former world
Light Heavyweight champion Matthew Saad Muhammad
two years before. He had six more wins that year,
including victories against Tyrone Booze and
former world title challenger Anthony Davis.

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 World
Boxing Association|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 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 International Boxing Federation|IBF
belt held by the IBF's world champion 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, and to this date,
only universally recognized world Cruiserweight
champion after knocking out the World Boxing
Council|WBC's defending world champion Carlos De
Leon in eight rounds at Las Vegas. 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 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. 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 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.

In 1990, Holyfield beat Seamus McDonaugh by a
knockout in four, and was by then, ranked number 1
among the world's Heavyweight challengers. By
then, however, what is considered one of the
biggest upsets in sports history had happened,
when James Buster Douglas knocked Tyson out in 10
rounds in February at Tokyo to become the world's
Heavyweight champion. And so Holyfield had no
choice but to challenge Douglas instead. In the
first Pay Per View telecast of boxing in history,
Holyfield became the undisputed Heavyweight
champion of the world when he knocked Douglas out
in three rounds. 

In his first defense, he beat former and future
world champion George Foreman by a decision in 12,
and then a deal was signed for him to defend his
crown against Tyson. Tyson was convicted of the
rape of Desiree Washington and sentenced to six
years in jail, and the proposed fight did not come
off. 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.

By 1992, Holyfield was already a household name,
announcing multiple products on television, such
as Coca Cola and their sugar-free sidekick Diet
Coke. He also had a video game released for the
Sega Genesis: Evander Holyfield's Real Deal
Boxing. He started professing his Christianity
everywhere, reminding the public before and after
his fights that he is a newborn Christian, and
wearing t-shirts with the word Pray in public. 

In his first fight that year, he faced former
world Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, and
retained the belt, once again by unanimous
decision. But for his next fight, he wasn't as
lucky: In the beginning of a trilogy of bouts with
Riddick Bowe, he suffered his first defeat when
Bowe won the world title by a 12 round decision in
Las Vegas. Round 10 of that bout was named the
Round of the year by Ring Magazine. 

He began 1993 by beating Stewart in a rematch, but
this time over the 12 round distance. Then came
the rematch with Bowe. In what is considered by
many historians as one of the most bizarre moments
in boxing's history, Holyfield had Bowe pinned
against the ropes near the end of round seven,
when everyone in the crowd got off their feet and
many people started to 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 landed inside the ring, but
tripped off onto one of the ring's corners, where
he proceeded to be beaten by members of Bowe's
entourage. 20 minutes later, calm was restored and
Holyfield went on to recover his world Heavyweight
titles with a 12 round majority decision. The guy
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.

For his next fight, in April of 1994, he met
former WBO Light Heavyweight champion of the world
Michael Moorer, who was attempting to become the
first lefty to become world's Heavyweight
champion. He dropped Moorer in round two, but
suffered a dislocated shoulder, and lost a 12
round majority decision. When he went to the
hospital to have his shoulder checked, he was
diagnosed also with a heart condition, and had to
announce his retirement from boxing. 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 show. 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. Then, he and Bowe had their rubber
match, and Bowe prevailed, by a knockout in eight.


However, 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
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 joining Muhammad Ali as the only
two men ever to become world Heavyweight champions
three times, and 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, when he knocked Tyson
out in the eleventh round. After the fight,
Holyfield said on TV that "My God is the only true
God," a reference to the Muslim Tyson. Tyson was
extremely humble and courteous after the fight,
which only made the events of their rematch seem
even more bizarre. Holyfield also had the
opportunity to carry the Olympic torch when it was
on its way to his hometown of Atlanta for that
year's Olympics.

His next fight would also go into the annals of
boxing as one of the most bizarre fights in
history: He gave Tyson a rematch on June 28, 1997,
in what became known as The Bite Fight. In the
third round, Tyson bit Holyfield on one of his
ears, and he lost a point. After biting Holyfield
on the other ear, he got disqualified and a melee
ensued. After peace was restored inside the ring,
a piece of one of Holyfield's ears was found lying
around, and it had to be surgically repaired on
the hours after the rematch. 

Next came another rematch, this time against
Moorer, who had recovered the IBF's world title.
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 against Vaughn Bean, who was defeated at
the champion's hometown by a decision. By this
time, Holyfield was forced to announce that he
believed to have as many as nine out of wedlock
children, and his marriage was affected by that
announcement. 

By 1999, the public was clamoring for a
unification bout versus the WBC's world champion,
Lennox Lewis of England. That bout happened in
February of that year, and things were left right
where they were at, when the bout was declared a
controversial draw after twelve rounds where it
appeared to most that Lewis dominated the fight.
They were ordered by the three leading
organizations of which they were champions to have
an immediate rematch, and the second time around,
in November of that year, Lewis became the
undisputed champion by beating Holyfield by a
unanimous decision.

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 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, however, 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 he only managed
a 12 round draw in the completion of their
trilogy. 

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 accidentally headbutted Rahman
in round seven, and as a consequence, they had to
determine the winner by going to the scorecards
during the eighth round. Holyfield was ahead, so
he was declared the winner by a technical
decision. But Lewis refused to meet him for a
third time, provoking a situation similar to the
one when he refused to meet Ruiz. 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 a
unanimous 12 round decision.

After the fight, Holyfield, who owns a very large
mansion with a personal gym in Atlanta, told HBO
Boxing's Larry Merchant that he plans to keep on
going on with boxing.

On July 3rd, 2003, Holyfield wed for the fourth
time, marrying 24 year old student Candi Calvana
Smith.

On October 4 of that year, he lost to former
Middleweight world champion and current
Cruiserweight world champion James Toney, by a
knockout in round nine.

Against the wishes of his fans and the boxing
community, a 42 year old Holyfield returned to the
ring to face the experienced 37 year old Larry
Donald, (who had lost to Bowe in a challenge for
the WBO world title in 1994) on November 13, 2004.
He suffered his third consecutive loss in a twelve
round unanimous decision.

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 is scheduled to fight on October
8th in Italy against unknown Frank Wood. 

Currently, he has a record of  38 wins, 8 losses
and 2 draws, with 25 wins by knockout.

==Trivia==
During a charity event in the early 1990s,
Holyfield defeated Carl Lewis, the former Olympic
sprinting champion, in an 800 metre race.


start box
succession box |
  before= James Buster Douglas|Buster Douglas |
  title= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (WBA, WBC,
IBF) |
  years= 1990–1992 |
  after= Riddick Bowe

succession box |
  before= Riddick Bowe |
  title= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (WBA, IBF) |
  years= 1993–1994 |
  after= Michael Moorer

succession box two to one|
  before1= Mike Tyson |
  title1= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (WBA) |
  years1= 1996–1999 |
  before2= Michael Moorer |
  title2= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (IBF) |
  years2= 1997–1999 |
  after= Lennox Lewis

succession box |
  before= Lennox Lewis |
  title= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion (WBA) |
  years= 2000–2001 |
  after= John Ruiz

end box