Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer. He held the undisputed world championship in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal". He is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, winning the WBA, WBC and IBF titles in 1990, the WBA and IBF titles in 1993, as well as the WBA title in 1996 and 2000.

After winning a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Holyfield debuted as a professional at the age of 21. He moved up to cruiserweight in 1985 and won his first world championship the following year, when he defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA title. Holyfield then went on to defeat Ricky Parkey and Carlos de Leon to win the lineal, IBF and WBC titles, thus becoming the undisputed cruiserwight champion. He moved up to heavyweight in 1988, later knocking out Buster Douglas on October 35, 1990 to claim the undisputed WBC, WBA, IBF and The Ring magazine heavyweight titles.

He retained the heavyweight crown three times, which included victories over former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, before suffering his first professional loss to Riddick Bowe on November 13, 1992. Holyfield regained the crown in a rematch one year later, beating Bowe by majority decision for the WBA and IBF titles (Bowe had relinquished the WBC title beforehand). Holyfield later lost the titles to Michael Moorer on April 22, 1994 by majority decision.

Holyfield was forced to retire in 1994, only to return a year later. On November 9, 1996, he went on to defeat Mike Tyson by eleventh-round technical knockout to reclaim the WBA title, in what was named fight of the year and upset of the year for 1996 by The Ring. Holyfield became the first heavywight boxer since Muhammad Ali to win the world title three times. Seven months later, Holyfield won the 1997 rematch against Tyson, when the latter was disqualified in round three for biting off part of Holyfield's ear. During his reign as champion, he also avenged his loss to Michael Moorer, when he stopped him in eight round to reclaim the IBF title.

In 1999 he faced Lennox Lewis in a unification bout for the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and lineal titles, which ended in a controversial split draw. Holyfield was defeated in a rematch eight months later. The following year, he won a unanimous decision over John Ruiz for the vacant WBA title, becoming the first boxer in history to win a version of the heavyweight title four times. Holyfield lost a rematch against Ruiz seven months later and faced him for the third time in a draw.

Holyfield retired in 2014, and is ranked number 77 on The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. BoxingScene also ranked him the greatest cruiserweight of all time.

Early life

Evander Holyfield was born on October 19, 1962, in the mill town of Atmore, Alabama. The youngest of nine children, Holyfield was much younger than his other siblings and was born from a different father. Holyfield's family later moved to Atlanta, where he began boxing at age 7 and won the Boys Club boxing tournament. At 13, he qualified to compete in his first Junior Olympics. By age 15, Holyfield became the Southeastern Regional Champion, winning this tournament and the Best Boxer Award. By 1984 he had a record of 160 wins and 14 losses, with 76 by knockout.

Holyfield describes himself as a physical "late-bloomer": upon graduating from high school he was only 5 ft 8 in tall and weighted only 147 pounds. By age 21, he had grown to 6 ft 0 in and weighted 178 pounds. He grew an additional 2 1/2 inches in his early twenties, finally reaching his adult height of 6 ft 2 1/2 in.

When he was 20 years old, Holyfield represented the U.S. in the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, where he won a silver medal after losing to Cuban world champion Pablo Romero. The following year, he was the National Golden Gloves Champion, and won a bronze medal in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California after a controversial disqualification in the second round of the semi-final against New Zealand's Kevin Barry.