Evander Holyfield once revealed the exact moment that he decided to call time on his glittering professional boxing career.
Holyfield, who was known as ‘The Real Deal’, entered the paid ranks back in 1984, just months after he captured a Bronze Medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
He claimed the undisputed cruiserweight championship with a victory over Carlos De Leon in April 1988, finally adding the WBC world title to his collection prior to his move up to heavyweight several months later.
‘The Real Deal’ etched his name into boxing history books just two years later when he dethroned undisputed heavyweight champion Buster Douglas, becoming the first fighter to achieve undisputed status at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.
In an interview with Pro Boxing Fans, Holyfield reflected on sparring a young Andy Ruiz Jr as he claims the Mexican-American star played a key role in his decision to retire from the sport.
“When I sparred that guy Ruiz and when he was 19 years old he was able to tag me, I knew then [it was over]. I don’t pass my age range where it no longer makes sense to get hit like that by somebody you think you should be able to beat, because experience and all this, but he had speed and I was losing speed.”
Ruiz is best known for causing arguably the biggest upset in modern boxing history when he knocked out Anthony Joshua back in June 2019 to capture the unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
