Evander Holyfield Record
| Total Fights | 57 |
|---|---|
| Wins | 44 |
| Losses | 10 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No-Contests | 1 |
| Title Wins | 11 |
|---|---|
| Title Defenses | 11 |
| Title-Fight KOs | 9 |
| KO Wins | 29 |
| KO Losses | 2 |
Featured Opponents
What is Evander Holyfield's boxing record?
In a professional boxing career spanning 26 years and five months, Evander Holyfield fought 57 times with 44 wins, 10 losses, and 2 draws.
Holyfield retired from professional boxing with a record of 44-10-2, which included 11 world-title wins and 11 successful title defense fights at two weight classes — cruiserweight and heavyweight. He had a 51.8% knockouts-to-fights ratio with 29 of his total 57 fights being knockout wins, nine of which were in title fights. Holyfield suffered two knockout losses, both of which were in non-title fights.
His last fight was a 10th round TKO victory over Brian Nielsen on May 7, 2011.
Some of Holyfield's best fights and notable victories include wins over five Hall-of-Famers (Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, and Dwight Muhammad Qawi), Carlos de León, Buster Douglas, and Michael Moorer.
| # | Date | Age | Opponent | Res | Via |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | May 7, 2011 | 48 | Brian Nielsen | Win | TKO10 |
| 56 | Jan 22, 2011 | 48 | Sherman Williams | NC | NC |
| 55 | Apr 10, 2010 | 47 | Francois Botha | Win | TKO8 |
| 54 | Dec 20, 2008 | 46 | Nikolai Valuev | Loss * | MD |
| 53 | Oct 13, 2007 | 44 | Sultan Ibragimov | Loss * | UD |
| 52 | Jun 30, 2007 | 44 | Lou Savarese | Win | UD |
| 51 | Mar 17, 2007 | 44 | Vinny Maddalone | Win | TKO3 |
| 50 | Nov 10, 2006 | 44 | Fres Oquendo | Win | UD |
| 49 | Aug 18, 2006 | 43 | Jeremy Bates | Win | TKO2 |
| 48 | Nov 13, 2004 | 42 | Larry Donald | Loss | UD |
| 47 | Oct 4, 2003 | 40 | James Toney | Loss | TKO9 |
| 46 | Dec 14, 2002 | 40 | Chris Byrd | Loss * | UD |
| 45 | Jun 1, 2002 | 39 | Hasim Rahman | Win | TD |
| 44 | Dec 15, 2001 | 39 | John Ruiz | Draw * | SD |
| 43 | Mar 3, 2001 | 38 | John Ruiz | Loss * | UD |
| 42 | Aug 12, 2000 | 37 | John Ruiz | Win * | UD |
| 41 | Nov 13, 1999 | 37 | Lennox Lewis | Loss * | UD |
| 40 | Mar 13, 1999 | 36 | Lennox Lewis | Draw * | SD |
| 39 | Sep 19, 1998 | 35 | Vaughn Bean | Win * | UD |
| 38 | Nov 8, 1997 | 35 | Michael Moorer | Win * | RTD8 |
| 37 | Jun 28, 1997 | 34 | Mike Tyson | Win * | DQ |
| 36 | Nov 9, 1996 | 34 | Mike Tyson | Win * | TKO11 |
| 35 | May 10, 1996 | 33 | Bobby Czyz | Win | RTD5 |
| 34 | Nov 4, 1995 | 33 | Riddick Bowe | Loss | TKO8 |
| 33 | May 20, 1995 | 32 | Ray Mercer | Win | UD |
| 32 | Apr 22, 1994 | 31 | Michael Moorer | Loss * | MD |
| 31 | Nov 6, 1993 | 31 | Riddick Bowe | Win * | MD |
| 30 | Jun 26, 1993 | 30 | Alex Stewart | Win | UD |
| 29 | Nov 13, 1992 | 30 | Riddick Bowe | Loss * | UD |
| 28 | Jun 19, 1992 | 29 | Larry Holmes | Win * | UD |
| 27 | Nov 23, 1991 | 29 | Bert Cooper | Win * | TKO7 |
| 26 | Apr 19, 1991 | 28 | George Foreman | Win * | UD |
| 25 | Oct 25, 1990 | 28 | Buster Douglas | Win * | KO3 |
| 24 | Jun 1, 1990 | 27 | Seamus McDonagh | Win | TKO4 |
| 23 | Nov 4, 1989 | 27 | Alex Stewart | Win | TKO8 |
| 22 | Jul 15, 1989 | 26 | Adílson Rodrigues | Win | KO2 |
| 21 | Mar 11, 1989 | 26 | Michael Dokes | Win | TKO10 |
| 20 | Dec 9, 1988 | 26 | Pinklon Thomas | Win | RTD7 |
| 19 | Jul 15, 1988 | 25 | James Tillis | Win | RTD5 |
| 18 | Apr 9, 1988 | 25 | Carlos de León | Win * | TKO8 |
| 17 | Dec 5, 1987 | 25 | Dwight Muhammad Qawi | Win * | KO4 |
| 16 | Aug 15, 1987 | 24 | Ossie Ocasio | Win * | TKO11 |
| 15 | May 15, 1987 | 24 | Ricky Parkey | Win * | TKO3 |
| 14 | Feb 14, 1987 | 24 | Henry Tillman | Win * | TKO7 |
| 13 | Dec 8, 1986 | 24 | Mike Brothers | Win | TKO3 |
| 12 | Jul 12, 1986 | 23 | Dwight Muhammad Qawi | Win * | SD |
| 11 | May 28, 1986 | 23 | Terry Mims | Win | KO5 |
| 10 | Apr 6, 1986 | 23 | Jesse Shelby | Win | KO3 |
| 9 | Mar 1, 1986 | 23 | Chisanda Mutti | Win | TKO3 |
| 8 | Dec 21, 1985 | 23 | Anthony Davis | Win | TKO4 |
| 7 | Oct 30, 1985 | 23 | Jeff Meachem | Win | TKO5 |
| 6 | Aug 29, 1985 | 22 | Rick Myers | Win | TKO1 |
| 5 | Jul 20, 1985 | 22 | Tyrone Booze | Win | UD |
| 4 | Apr 20, 1985 | 22 | Mark Rivera | Win | TKO2 |
| 3 | Mar 13, 1985 | 22 | Fred Brown | Win | TKO1 |
| 2 | Jan 20, 1985 | 22 | Eric Winbush | Win | UD |
| 1 | Nov 15, 1984 | 22 | Lionel Byarm | Win | UD |
* World-title fight
Boxing career
Evander Holyfield (The Real Deal) is a 61-year old retired American professional boxer. He was born in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. on October 19, 1962. He is a former two-weight-class world champion. Holyfield was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2017. His professional boxing career spanned more than 26 years — from 1984 to 2011.
Holyfield made his professional boxing debut against Lionel Byarm at the age of 22 on November 15, 1984, defeating Byarm via 6 round unanimous decision. He went on to win 27 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 22 wins via stoppage.
He had his first world title fight at the age of 23 on July 12, 1986 after 11 professional fights, against Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the cruiserweight WBA title. He defeated Qawi via 15 round split decision to become the cruiserweight champion of the world.
Evander Holyfield was a two-time undisputed world champion — at heavyweight and cruiserweight, and a three-time unified world champion — at heavyweight (2x) and cruiserweight, and has won 11 world titles at two weight classes. For all the details about Holyfield's world title wins and defenses refer to the "Championships" section below.
Holyfield had a total of 10 losses in his professional boxing career.
His last professional fight was a non-title bout against Danish boxer Brian Nielsen on May 7, 2011. Holyfield won the fight via 10th round TKO. It's been 12 years, 11 months, and 17 days since this fight.
Championships
Holyfield had a total of 25 world-title fights, which includes winning 11 world titles and 12 successful title defenses. He won 16 of these fights, lost seven, and drew in two.
Title Wins
Evander Holyfield fought for world titles in 14 fights and won eight of these fights, five of these victories coming via way of stoppage. In total, he won 11 belts across two weight classes.
| Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Won | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 2000 | John Ruiz | Heavyweight | WBA* | UD |
| Nov 8, 1997^ | Michael Moorer | Heavyweight | IBF | RTD |
| Nov 9, 1996 | Mike Tyson | Heavyweight | WBA | TKO |
| Nov 6, 1993^ | Riddick Bowe | Heavyweight | WBA, IBF | MD |
| Oct 25, 1990+ | Buster Douglas | Heavyweight | WBA, WBC, IBF | KO |
| Apr 9, 1988+ | Carlos de León | Cruiserweight | WBC | TKO |
| May 15, 1987^ | Ricky Parkey | Cruiserweight | IBF | TKO |
| Jul 12, 1986 | Dwight Muhammad Qawi | Cruiserweight | WBA | SD |
Title Defenses
Evander Holyfield had 16 world-title defense fights across two weight classes — cruiserweight (x5) and heavyweight (x11). He won 12 of them and lost four times.
Following is the table of his successful title defense fights, the next section has the fights where he lost his titles.
| Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Defended | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1999 | Lennox Lewis | Heavyweight | WBA, IBF | SD (draw) |
| Sep 19, 1998 | Vaughn Bean | Heavyweight | WBA, IBF | UD |
| Nov 8, 1997^ | Michael Moorer | Heavyweight | WBA | RTD |
| Jun 28, 1997 | Mike Tyson | Heavyweight | WBA | DQ |
| Jun 19, 1992 | Larry Holmes | Heavyweight | WBA, WBC, IBF | UD |
| Nov 23, 1991 | Bert Cooper | Heavyweight | WBA, WBC, IBF | TKO |
| Apr 19, 1991 | George Foreman | Heavyweight | WBA, WBC, IBF | UD |
| Apr 9, 1988+ | Carlos de León | Cruiserweight | WBA, IBF | TKO |
| Dec 5, 1987 | Dwight Muhammad Qawi | Cruiserweight | WBA, IBF | KO |
| Aug 15, 1987 | Ossie Ocasio | Cruiserweight | WBA, IBF | TKO |
| May 15, 1987^ | Ricky Parkey | Cruiserweight | WBA | TKO |
| Feb 14, 1987 | Henry Tillman | Cruiserweight | WBA | TKO |
Title Losses
Evander Holyfield lost four world-title defense fights, and lost a total of eight titles in these fights.
| Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Lost | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 2001 | John Ruiz | Heavyweight | WBA | UD |
| Nov 13, 1999 | Lennox Lewis | Heavyweight | WBA, IBF | UD |
| Apr 22, 1994 | Michael Moorer | Heavyweight | WBA, IBF | MD |
| Nov 13, 1992 | Riddick Bowe | Heavyweight | WBA, WBC, IBF | UD |
Highlights
Holyfield fought a total of 57 times during his professional career, which includes 25 world-title fights at two weight divisions. He was among the very best of his generation and put on some incredible performances in his fights. These 10 fights are the highlight of his career.
July 12, 1986: Holyfield wins his first world title by defeating Dwight Muhammad Qawi via 15 round split decision. He is now the WBA cruiserweight world champion.
May 15, 1987: Holyfield becomes a unified cruiserweight world champion by beating Ricky Parkey via 3rd round TKO. He now holds the WBA and IBF cruiserweight world-champion belts.
December 5, 1987: Holyfield successfully defends the WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles against Dwight Muhammad Qawi, winning the fight via 4th round KO.
April 9, 1988: Holyfield becomes the undisputed cruiserweight world champion by defeating Carlos de León via 8th round TKO. He now holds the WBA, IBF, and WBC cruiserweight world-champion belts.
October 25, 1990: Holyfield becomes the undisputed heavyweight world champion by defeating Buster Douglas via 3rd round KO. He now holds the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight world-champion belts.
June 19, 1992: Holyfield successfully defends the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles against Larry Holmes, winning the fight via 12 round unanimous decision.
November 6, 1993: Holyfield becomes a unified heavyweight world champion by beating Riddick Bowe via 12 round majority decision. He now holds the WBA and IBF heavyweight world-champion belts.
November 9, 1996: Holyfield wins the WBA heavyweight title from Mike Tyson, by beating Tyson via 11th round TKO.
November 8, 1997: Holyfield becomes a unified heavyweight world champion by beating Michael Moorer via 8th round RTD. He now holds the WBA and IBF heavyweight world-champion belts.
August 12, 2000: Holyfield wins the WBA heavyweight title from John Ruiz, by beating Ruiz via 12 round unanimous decision.
FAQs
How many KOs does Evander Holyfield have on his record?
Holyfield knocked out 29 of his 57 opponents. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 51.8%. Of his total 44 wins, 29 of them were via KO (65.9%).
What was Evander Holyfield's first world title win?
Holyfield's first world-title win was the WBA belt at cruiserweight. He defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi via 15 round split decision to win the title.
How many world titles did Evander Holyfield win?
Holyfield won 11 world titles at two weight classes.
How many title defenses did Evander Holyfield make?
Holyfield had a total of 16 title defense fights. He was successful 12 times and lost four times.