Prize-winner Olympic and Pan American Gamesthe only absolute cruiserweight and heavyweight champion in the history of boxing, American legend Evander Holyfield shared a couple of
most iconic memories.
The first of them is about how he almost gave up boxing at the age of 11: “I was great at it, I defeated everyone, but at the age of 11 I lost to a kid named Cecil Collins. I got upset, ran home and told my mom that I didn’t want to box anymore. Mom answered harshly. Said she didn’t raise a surrenderer, so I’m going to have to go back and beat that guy. I returned, but again lost to him, after which I again left boxing. But my mother made me come back again. On the third try, I finally beat him. And then she told me: “Great. I’m glad that you finally gave up boxing.” And I answered her: “Mom, what are you? I’m not going anywhere…”
Holyfield moved to heavyweight as the undisputed cruiserweight champion. At that time, compatriot Mike Tyson was the clear leader in the heavyweight division. But in 1990, he sensationally lost to James “Buster” Douglas and lost all the championship titles. After 8 months, Holyfield beat Douglas and became an absolute in the second weight category, but he did not receive due respect.
“I was pleased. I was happy. But it turned out that this was not enough for people. I kept hearing, “But you didn’t beat Tyson. You beat Douglas. Fat Douglas. So you’re not a real champion. You won’t be a real champion until you beat Mike.” I constantly made excuses, said: “Wait, is it my fault that he lost to Douglas?” ”Holyfield recalls.
Everyone was eager to see him fight Tyson. The event first had to be postponed due to Mike’s injury, and then he ended up in jail on charges of rape.
In 1992, Holyfield lost for the first time – he lost the title of absolute world champion to Riddick Bowe. A year later, Evander got even for that defeat, but then there were two more failures – with Michael Moorer and in the third fight with Bow (moreover, he lost ahead of schedule).
In the meantime, Tyson got out of prison, took the WBA belt and agreed to a fight with Holyfield, which the fans considered already spent. The thing is that the champion left boxing for a while, as he had heart problems, and then returned – later rumors spread that he was sitting tight on growth hormone.
Then there were two legendary victories of Evander (including the scandalous second – by disqualification) over Tyson, which brought him the long-awaited superstar status and solid fees. And there were also two fights with Briton Lennox Lewis, which seemed to make the American a millionaire forever.
But with finances, Holyfield constantly had problems. And his decision to box until the age of 48 was also caused by this factor. In 2008, he was forced to sell his 109-room mansion in his native Atlanta for $5.8 million. And Holyfield’s financial situation was also affected by three divorces, alimony to his 11 children (from six different women), unsuccessful business investments. And this despite the fact that in the ring the champion earned hundreds of millions of US dollars.
It is possible that for this reason, in September last year, Holyfield returned to the ring and was knocked out by Vitor Belfort: video. It’s funny that in the meantime, Tyson is selling Holyfield’s “bitten off ears”: photo.
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