Evander Holyfield was never one to turn down a challenge in the boxing ring.
After becoming undisputed at cruiserweight, Holyfield moved up to heavyweight in search of further success in that division, and he took on all comers.
Despite being smaller than the majority of the opponents he came up against in the banner division, that didn’t stop Holyfield from having incredible success, as he also became undisputed at heavyweight.
He defeated fighters such as Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe and Larry Holmes, and also shared the ring with the likes of Lennox Lewis and James Toney.
Holyfield has revealed that there is one heavyweight he didn’t want to take on though, explaining to The Fight Guys about a sparring session he had with former world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz.
“I sparred with Andy Ruiz and he is quick. Amazing quick. He’s the only person I ever said ‘ah shoot. I don’t want to fight him.’ I was in my 40s but it was amazing. Usually I can look at your body and tell what you can do, but with his build he is so quick.
I sparred with him and he got the best of me all camp. He was the first person I ever fought that made me make my mind up real quick that if I’ll get hit like this and I can’t stop this guy from hitting me, I know he’s a good fighter.”
Ruiz won the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles with an upset win over Anthony Joshua back in June 2019, having only taken the fight on short notice after replacing original opponent Jarrell Miller.
He lost the titles in an immediate rematch with Joshua, and most recently was held to a majority decision draw with Miller himself last August.
