Evander Holyfield fought a who’s who of heavyweight stars in his career.
Holyfield remains the only four-time world heavyweight champion in boxing history, taking on all of the top stars during his era.
‘The Real Deal’ defeated boxing icons like Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Larry Holmes, along with sharing the ring with Lennox Lewis and James Toney.
There is one former world heavyweight champion that Holyfield wishes he never took on though, telling The Big Podcast With Shaq that he shouldn’t have fought Riddick Bowe.
“Riddick Bowe is the first person that I didn’t listen to what my momma told me. My momma told me not to become friends with people you’re going to compete with. She said you’ll tell them too much.
“Riddick Bowe was that guy. I started sparring with him at the age of 18 when he was getting ready to go to the Olympics. I became good friends with him.”
Holyfield and Bowe met on three occasions, with the first coming in November 1992 when ‘Big Daddy’ won by unanimous decision to hand Holyfield his first defeat and end his reign as undisputed heavyweight champion.
‘The Real Deal’ gained revenge with a majority decision victory 12 months later, but Bowe ensured he finished with bragging rights as he picked up an eighth round stoppage win in November 1995 to end the trilogy in his favour. Holyfield would later tell The Ring Magazine that he was the best fighter he faced.
“I would say Bowe. I had three fights with Bowe. He was very competitive, he was always going to be in shape when he fought me.’
Holyfield ended his career with a record of 44 wins, 10 defeats and 2 draws, and recently caused a stir when he claimed he is the greatest heavyweight of all time, and not boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
