Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s. As an amateur, Holyfield represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division. He is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992.
About Evander Holyfield in brief
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s. As an amateur, Holyfield represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division. He is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992. Holyfield retired in 2014, and is ranked number 77 on The Ring’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. In 2002, BoxRec named him the 22nd greatest fighter of the past 80 years. He currently ranks No. 9 in BoxRec’s ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of alltime. He was born on October 19, 1962, in the mill town of Atmore, Alabama. His family later moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he was raised in the crime-ridden Bowen Homes Housing Projects. He describes himself as a physical ‘late bloomer’, growing from 5 ft 8 in tall and 147 pounds to 6 ft 2 1 in and 178 pounds by his early 20s. When he was 20 years old, he started out professionally with a light heavyweight win against New Zealand’s Kevin Barry. In 1983, he was the U.S. National Golden Gloves Champion, and won a gold medal at the Pan-American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. The following year, he won a silver medal after losing to Cuban world champion Pablo Romero.
In 1984 he had a record of 160 wins and 14 losses, with 76 by knockout. He turned professional at the age of 21, moving up to cruiserweights in 1985 and winning his first world championship the following year. In 1988, he moved up to heavyweight in 1988, later defeating Buster Douglas in 1990 to claim the unified WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. In 1996 he defeated Mike Tyson and reclaimed the WBA title, making him the first boxer since Muhammad Ali to win a world heavyweight title three times. In 1999 he faced Lennox Lewis in a unification fight, which ended in a controversial split draw. In 2000, he defeated John Ruiz for the vacant WBAtitle, becoming the first boxer in history to win a version of the heavyweight title four times. During this reign as champion, he also avenged his loss to Michael Moorer and reclaim the IBF title. In 2001, he lost a rematch against Ruiz seven months later and faced him for the third time in a draw. He retired in 1994 upon medical advice, only to return a year later with a clean bill of health. He grew an additional 2 1/2 inches in height and weighed 178 pounds in his late 20s, finally reaching his height of 6-ft 2-1⁄2 inches when he was in his early 30s. He has a son, Evander Jr., who is a professional boxer.
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