Evander Holyfield faced a who’s who of heavyweight hitters during his stint in the top division after conquering cruiserweight.
‘The Real Deal’ moved up in 1988, facing James Tillis in his maiden heavyweight bout and winning by fifth round stoppage. Six fights later he would challenge James ‘Buster’ Douglas – who had just upset the odds by knocking out Mike Tyson – for the IBF and WBC belts, winning by knockout to become a two-division titlist.
Holyfield’s first defence of his status as champion was a bruising affair in 1991 against George Foreman, the thudding puncher who was on a mission to regain the world title after a decade out of the ring. At 42-years-old, ‘Big’ George was 24-0 with 23 knockouts in his comeback and the title was in touching distance, but Holyfield, 28, had never tasted defeat and presented a different type of challenge of this new era.
Holyfield would win by unanimous decision though not without putting himself in the firing line of Foreman, who showed incredible durability to keep up with the younger man content on standing and trading.
The champion would later call Foreman’s punches the hardest he had been hit with, telling ES News, he asked his coach if his teeth were still intact.
“The guy that hit me the hardest was George Foreman. He hit me one time in the eleventh round, and I came back to the corner and I said, ‘did he knock all my teeth out?’”
Foreman – who would win the world title by beating Michael Moorer three years later – has power held higher than the likes of Tyson and Lennox Lewis in Holyfield’s books, as he explained to Fight Hub TV.
“George Foreman [hit harder than Tyson], a lot harder, but he was a lot bigger too though… He hit me one time and my feet froze up. I hadn’t been hit like that before.”
‘Big’ George still holds the record as the division’s oldest ever world champion. He hung up the gloves with a record of 76 wins – an incredible 68 by knockout – and just five losses.
