How great is Evander Holyfield?
Janne Romppainen
21.01 - There can be no dispute about whether Evander Holyfield is an all-time great or not. He most certainly is. He has cemented his place in the history with a career that is almost unmatched in many ways. But how high ranking does he deserve? Some resources such as the magazine The Ring have raised him to the top-three of all-time heavyweights. Some still refuse to place him to the top-10 lists arguing that he never really was a dominating heavyweight like many others. Which one of these propositions is the truth or is it to be found from somewhere between? Let’s consider that for a moment. This is meant to be neither a praise nor a bashing towards Holyfield but just an objective look at his career and status.
Evander Holyfield started his professional career in the cruiserweight division after a remarkable amateur record. He belonged to the American boxing Dream Team which won nine gold medals in the Olympics 1984. Holyfield himself had to settle for a bronze as he was disqualified in the semi-finals though all experts agree that he would have very probably taken home the gold medal if given a chance. The Real Deal advanced very quickly in his pro career. After less than two years and mere eleven fights he was ready to challenge Dwight Qawi for the WBA Cruiserweight title in 1986. After fifteen rounds of hard fighting Holyfield took home a split decision and the crown. He then unified the title by defeating Ricky Parkey and Carlos DeLeon and besting all his challengers on the way.
Searching for bigger purses and more respect Holyfield moved up to the heavyweight division. He showed that he could really mix it up with the big boys by easily defeating the ex-champs Pinklon Thomas and Michael Dokes. A proposed title shot against the insurmountable champion Mike Tyson approached quickly. As we know that fight didn’t happen because Tyson shockingly lost his title to a journeyman James Buster Douglas. Holyfield then got his chance against the new king and took the crown easily by effortlessly knocking out the overweight Douglas in three rounds in 1990. Holyfield defended his title thrice by labouring point victories over veterans George Foreman and Larry Holmes and having problems with late substitute Bert Cooper who knocked him down before succumbing in seventh round. These fights didn’t do much good for his reputation as the public only wanted to see him against Tyson. Holyfield himself was ready for the fight but Tyson’s prison sentence cancelled the plans.
The first real top challenger whom Holyfield faced as a champion was Riddick Bowe in 1992. He was a big and strong Olympic silver medallist and the fight was eagerly anticipated. The match surpassed all the expectations as the two best heavyweights of the early nineties put up a great display of power and courage. At the end of the day Bowe had taken home hard-earned but well-deserved victory. Holyfield started his comeback and after one warm-up fight he was ready for a rematch. This time Bowe was untrained. He put up a strong fight again but couldn’t resist Holyfield’s will and stamina. Holyfield had returned to the throne as only the fourth man in the history.
After this great return Holyfield’s career went through a peculiar period. In his first defence he lost the title to Michael Moorer via split decision. In the fight Holyfield seemed strangely winded in many instances. Later it was told in the media that Holyfield had had problems with his heart and that he had to call his career in 1994. However, Holyfield told that his strong religion had healed him and he was ready to fight again which he did next year by winning tough Ray Mercer on points. Holyfield went forwards to a rubber match against Riddick Bowe. Holyfield was able to knock his rival down but got exhausted himself and was knocked out for the first and only time in his career. Again Holyfield was thought to finish his career, the magazines reviewed his record and paid him fair share of respect mostly for giving his all in every fight.
But Holyfield himself wasn’t going to stop. With his old reputation he got a fight against Mike Tyson in 1996, one which was supposed to happen a half decade earlier. Tyson was again the leading heavyweight of the planet and many observers really feared for Holyfield’s health. But The Real Deal put up a master show, knocked Tyson down and stopped him in eleven rounds an sealing his place among the best. In the rematch he was again in control of the fight when the bout ended in the madness where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear off as we too well know. Next Holyfield paid his old debts for Moorer, knocking him out in eight rounds.
A new challenger was approaching quickly however. Lennox Lewis had waited his chance for years and he wasn’t going to let it pass him. In one of the most waited fights of the decade Lewis dominated Holyfield but had to settle for a scandalous draw decision in 1999. Later in the same year Holyfield fought very well indeed in the rematch but was justly decisioned by Lewis after twelve rounds. But Holyfield wasn’t still done. He won the vacant WBA title by controversially beating John Ruiz my decision in 2000 winning the title for the record of fourth time. In the rematch he lost it and couldn’t take it again in the rubber match although many spectators thought he should have. After those three fights Holyfield has fought twice, winning Hasim Rahman and losing to Chris Byrd. And according to his own words, he is still going to come back.
Looking the statistics Holyfield’s career has been impressive. He has captured the heavyweight title four times His record is 38-6-2 with 25 knockouts. All his losses are against other champions. 24 out of his 48 fights have been championship bouts. He still is a top-10 contender in the division when he is 40-years-old and having fought at the top for over a decade. He has defeated total of ten other heavyweight champions. He cleaned up the cruiserweight division. He has always been known for giving his best when he steps inside the ring. In my opinion these achievements raise him to the top-10 of all-time lists without a question.
But when we consider his place at the absolute top we also have to consider the other side of the coin. When he fought in the cruiserweight division it was still a very young category and the competition of it wasn’t very tough- Holyfield is clearly the best man ever fought in there but this is a fact that should be kept in mind. He won the heavyweight title in fact too easily for the first time. Not to bash Holyfield by any means, Douglas was getting old, he clearly hadn’t trained for the match and went out without trying much more than Bruce Seldon in his infamous ‘fight’ against Tyson in 1996. Holyfield lost his title for the first top challenger he faced after holding it for two years though not after making it great fight. He won the title back in impressive style though as I mentioned earlier, it looked like Bowe had suffered from a motivation problems. Holyfield lost the title this time after half a year.
Holyfield’s biggest claim to fame is without a question his win over Tyson. That was an impressive achievement indeed but let’s not forget that there were factors which raised the mystique over the event. Tyson was thought to be ‘unbeatable’ although in the last five years the best fighters he had faced were Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon and he had only eight rounds of ring experience from that time. Holyfield had much more left than it had looked like when he was beaten by Bowe but that is not an achievement by itself. The rematch fiasco isn’t much to write about even though Holyfield probably would have won it too. The rematch victory over Moorer was impressive enough though Moorer’s chin had been exposed many times leading to the fight. This time Holyfield held the title for little over two years but many experts considered Lewis being the better of the champions at the time.
Holyfield fought respectably against Lewis both times but the consensus opinion is that he lost both fights, the latter one more closely. The three fights with Ruiz didn’t do much of either man’s reputation, they all were rather boring fights though Holyfield's pretty advanced age must be remembered. A win over Rahman showed that Holyfield still has something in the tank but the clear loss against Chris Byrd showed that it is very improbable that he would win the title again. Holyfield is also known for his ugly style of fighting, especially the head-butts have become infamous.
In my opinion Holyfield deserves to be ranked somewhere between 6-8 in the all-time heavyweight rankings. His attidude and even his achievements could give him even a higher status but never dominating the division like Ali, Louis, Holmes or in this moment Lewis counts against him.
Comments/questions to: janneromppainen@hotmail.com
