BoxRec

Carrying on with my 'Best Win Series'..



He had a record 44 wins, with 29 KO's!

Had a record of 16-7-2 (9 KO) in World Title fights.
Had a record of 19-9-2 (10 KO) against former, current and future world titlists.
Had a record of 7-3-1 (2 KO) against International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees

Which was his best and/or defining win?

What was his best KO win?

Some names that he has fought include:

Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Ricky Parkey
Carlos De Leon
James Douglas
George Foreman
Larry Holmes
Riddick Bowe
Mike Tyson
Michael Moorer
John Ruiz
Hasim Rahman

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Another question..

Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?

From the list above, this would include the likes of:

Lennox Lewis
Chris Byrd
James Toney
Sultan Ibragimov
Nikolay Valuev

Holyfield is obviously a legend of the ring and had an incredible career, although it was longer, than it should had been. So, there are some stuff to mention.

Which was his best and/or defining win?

It can't be just one.

The 1st is against Dwight Muhammad Qawi #1. It was an excellent fight against the great opponent and the first championship for Evander.

The 2nd is against George Foreman. It wasn't just the first defence of the undisputed heavyweight championship, that fight had a bigger definition. Only look at PPV numbers. They are enormous even for today.

The 3rd is against Mike Tyson #1. It was a highly anticipated showdown, while Evander was a big underdog, but he had written the history.

What was his best KO win?

I'll name the one over Douglas, because it wasn't only a classy counter punch, but a shot, which gave Evander all the belts in the division. Douglas had probably consciously chosen not to stand up, but still it was an impressive KO. The one over Adílson Rodrigues also was beautiful, it's on the 2nd place for me.

Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?

He had fought not a one legend and also considering a shape of the opponents on the moment of the fights I'll pick Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe. Both of them were in prime, when they had fought Holyfield (talking about Holyfield-Bowe 1), both of them won (Lewis had actually won even the 1st fight, but had been robbed, as we all know).

I want more info on this guys!

Best win:
1) Qawi-1 - beating future HOFer in the 12th fight is a huge achievement.
2) Bowe (second fight) - prime Bowe was a great fighter and Holyfield beat him despite being a huge underdog
3) Tyson-1 - Iron Mike was still very good when Holyfield beat him

Most defining win:
1) Tyson-1
2) Bowe
3) Qawi-1

Best KO win:
1) Tyson-1
2) Qawi-2
3) Douglas

Most spectacular KO win:
1) Seamus McDonagh (amazing KTFO!!!)
2) Adilson Rodriguez
3) James Buster Douglas

Best opponent (at the time when Holyfield fought them):
1) Lewis
2) Bowe
3) Tyson/Qawi

Greatest opponent (no matter at what point of his career he was in the fight):
1) Holmes
2) Foreman
3) Lewis

Although you can make the case that Lewis and Qawi should be ranked higher than Foreman, but Holmes is a clear number one.

His best win will always be Tyson. The real question is what is his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th best wins. Qawi is my deadlock for number two. Their first encounter was one of the greatest fights of all time regardless of division.

The Tyson win cemented his legacy as an ATG heavyweight. He was given very little chance to win this fight. Historically, this is a very important fight in rating Holyfield and Tyson.
The Qawi fight was fantastic to watch. Holyfield had not quite reached his prime yet, but put in a great performance against Qawi who fought a great fight himself.
The Bowe fight was where he was at his absolute best. There probably were not a half dozen other fighters who would have beaten Bowe that night. Great fight. Has not been a better heavyweight fight since.

Best defining win: WTKO11 Mike Tyson. Evander felt that no matter what he did in the ring, his career would have not been complete without beating the monster Iron Mike. That was his measuring stick. Any other win it wouldn't matter. He became an all time great fighter pound per pound with that victory.

Best opponent: Mike Tyson. It had to be. Any other win it wouldn't matter. Besides Tyson, it should be Riddick Bowe.

Best KO win: WKO3 Buster Douglas. A straight right hand right on the button.

Best performance win: WTKO7 Dwight Muhammad Qawi (II).

Gutsiest performance: L12 Riddick Bowe. Even though he lost the fight, he had the heart, will and determination. There are only two boxers in boxing history in my view that had a heart like his: Smokin'Joe and the great Carmen Basilio.