Evander Holyfield making a comeback to the ring only to be flattened in a single round is a warning to others considering a return.
At 58, Holyfield accepted an offer from Triller after making himself available following the collapsed Mike Tyson trilogy. The period, already ravaged by a pandemic, it brought about some strange occurrences.
Reports of Tyson vs Holyfield III were just one of them. Both did fight again but in very different ways. Tyson drew with Roy Jones Jr. as Holyfield faced UFC star Vitor Belfort.
Initially, Holyfield moved on from Tyson to his conqueror, Kevin McBride. However, the whole event fell apart when postponed only for Triller not to reschedule.
Holyfield then took on Belfort. He was dropped, humbled, and sent packing in defeat.
It was a far cry from when the two-weight undisputed champion defeated Tyson himself twice, once during the infamous “Bite Fight” in 1997.
His legacy will live on but has a dent in it that is visible because YouTube videos never die.
Evander Holyfield legacy
But Holyfield is the only professional fighter to win the heavyweight championship four separate times, surpassing the record of Muhammad Ali, who won it three times.
After a standout amateur and Olympic boxing career, Holyfield turned professional. In 1986, he won the junior heavyweight title by upsetting World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a 15-round split decision.
In April 1988, with an eighth-round knockout of Carlos DeLeon, Holyfield became boxing’s first undisputed cruiserweight champion. Three months later, he fought his first heavyweight bout, knocking out James Tillis in five rounds.
On October 25, 1990, he scored a third-round knockout of James “Buster” Douglas to win the undisputed heavyweight title of the WBA, the World Boxing Council (WBC), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
After successful defenses against former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, Holyfield lost the title on November 13, 1992. He dropped a twelve-round decision to Riddick Bowe.
A rematch with Bowe one year later, he recaptured the WBA and IBF titles in another decision.
Holyfield met heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a much-anticipated WBA bout on November 9, 1996. Holyfield scored a TKO in the 11th round, becoming the heavyweight champion for the third time.
He regained the IBF title by knocking out Michael Moorer in the eighth round of their November 8, 1997 rematch.
Heavyweight title
Fighting Lennox Lewis twice, once in a controversial draw and defeated in the other, Holyfield regained the heavyweight crown for the final time nine months later.
“The Quiet Man” John Ruiz was beaten in March 2001 by Holyfield in the first of three contests between the pair.
He retired in 2014 despite not competing for three years with 44 wins (29 by knockout), ten losses, and two draws.
Holyfield was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.
Four years later, at age 58, Holyfield made his astonishing comeback to action on Triller a decade after his last fight.
It didn’t work out, and should warn others considering a similar move.
