HOLYFIELD'S NEIGHBORS: WHICH TWO KNOCKED OUT THE LEGEND?

HOLYFIELD'S NEIGHBORS: WHICH TWO KNOCKED OUT THE LEGEND?

Evander Holyfield was a phenomenal boxer! He grabbed attention as an amateur in the 1880s. A forgotten story is the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. Then Evander reached the semi-finals in the light heavyweight category, where he faced the New Zealander Kevin Barry. American Star loses by disqualification. The official reason is that he hits his opponent after a stop signal. Many believe that the truth is completely different and that Holyfield was wrongfully removed. Anyway, the incident became an additional motivator for the "Warrior", and his professional career, which started in the same year, became a sensation.

Evender played 57 matches in the professional ring. Until his 28th meeting, they all developed in the same way - with a victory for the great American. Holyfield goes down in history with his rivalry with Mike Tyson and two consecutive victories against one of the greatest figures in the history of the sport. We still talk about him as the only 4-time heavyweight champion of the world, and his successes are far from the heaviest. Despite everything, Holyfield lost 10 matches in his professional career. Some of them against Lennox Lewis, Nikolay Valuev, John Ruiz and others. But only two of those defeats came after a knockout against Holyfield. Who are they?

In 1995, Holyfield was already 33 years old and had solid experience in the professional ring. In his 33 fights so far, he has 31 victories and already knows the belts of a world champion. The opponent in the next fight is Riddick Baugh, and the match is in one of the most suitable arenas - "Caesars Palace" in Nevada. Baugh was a silver medalist at Seoul 1988 and is 37 out of 39 in the pros. His only loss came to his next opponent a few years ago. The clash is the third between them in the professional ring. The victory in the match and in the overall result between the two goes to Bau. The American knocks out his compatriot in the 8th round, which is the first knockout against Holyfield.

For the second, we will have to wait until the 21st century. In 2003, Evander was past the prime of his career, but at 40, he was still among the biggest names in the heavyweight division. Holyfield just lost a fight against Chris Bird for the vacant IBF world title. The next opponent is James Tawney. Only 178 cm tall, but finished his career in 2017 with a total of 92 professional games. Against Holyfield is number 73, but first at the heaviest. Tawney was badly shaken in the first round, but gradually stabilized his game. After multiple blows to the head and body, Holyfield falls to the ground in the 9th round. And it never gets up. The defeat is the 4th of his last 5 matches that Evedner has not won. It is clear to everyone that Holyfield will never be the known boxer, but he still officially ends his career 8 years after the fight with Tawney.