A retired heavyweight champion has labeled Evander Holyfield as the dirtiest fighter he ever faced.
‘The Real Deal’ is often regarded as being one of the greatest fighters of the last four decades, proving his credentials throughout an exceptional professional career which began back in 1984.
After walking away from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles with a Bronze Medal, Holyfield established himself as a cruiserweight contender in no time at all, going on to win the undisputed championship at 200lbs with a victory over Carlos De Leon in 1988.
He repeated this feat at heavyweight just two years later, stopping James ‘Buster’ Douglas in the 3rd round of their showdown in Las Vegas to become the first fighter in boxing history to win the undisputed championship at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Despite proving himself to be a force at heavyweight during his tenure, two-time world champion and former rival, Hasim Rahman, has brandished Holyfield as the ‘dirtiest fighter’ he ever faced whilst speaking to Laugh At First Site, saying he understood why rival Mike Tyson infamously bit him.
“One thing I can say about Evander is he’s a very intelligent fighter, he uses his head very well … Yes [he’s a dirty fighter.] For me, it’s Evander [the dirtiest fighter ever.]
“Evander’s real, real clever, he’ll headbutt you then he’ll start throwing punches immediately after headbutting to try to cause a cut as if he did it with his fists as opposed to his head so when he got half his ear bit off I understand why, I wanted to bite him … If it was accidental I wouldn’t have been upset.”
Rahman was beaten by Holyfield via technical decision in their showdown in 2002 after he sustained eye damage following an accidental clash of heads – the same thing Tyson took serious issue with in both his fights with Holyfield.
There had been rumours of a rematch between the pair after the controversy surrounding their bout, although this never came to fruition.
