Evander Holyfield fought some of the biggest names in world boxing during his decorated career.
Until Oleksandr Usyk repeated the feat in May of this year, ‘The Real Deal’ was the only man to have ever been undisputed cruiserweight champion and then undisputed up at heavyweight.
He had famous fights with the likes of Mike Tyson, winning by knockout in the first and then disqualification in the second when Tyson bit a chunk out of Holyfield’s ear.
He also fought Lennox Lewis in back-to-back fights in 1999, drawing the first but losing on points in the rematch, and shared the ring with other big names like Riddick Bowe, James Toney and Hasim Rahman.
Speaking to DontaesBoxingNation, he said his hardest fight was against a man down at cruiserweight that he beat by decision for the IBF title – Dwight Muhammad Qawi.
“For heavyweight, I would say Riddick Bowe, but as a fighter overall Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Reason why it was so tough is I’d never been 15 rounds, only been eight, and I knew what he could do. I’d seen that he was a mean guy, he don’t let up on nobody.
“His size, his stature, 5″7, 5″8, his arm was longer than my arm reach so he’s a guy that’s shorter than me with arms longer than mine and he’s a strong guy, good fighter. He was older, so he was smarter too, so I had a lot to overcome.”
Holyfield fought Qawi twice. First in 1986 when he won via a split decision and then again the following year, this time Holyfield got the stoppage in the fourth round. Qawi retired having been world champion at both light-heavyweight and cruiserweight.
