Evander Holyfield, The Thread

I really enjoyed doing the Lewis one, so I'm doing another. Same 3 ideas, A poll of who beats him, my analysis of his skills, while scoring his fights and a sort of Appreciation Thread. But also covering what I know of his alter ego, Evan Fields
So here we go...

Evander Holyfield, The Real Deal

Evander is the only man in history to unify both CW and HW divisions, he is also the only man to win the HW title 4 times. He has a storied amateur background, going 160-14 with 75 KOs. Winning

• U.S. National Championships Bronze Medalist (178 lbs)
• 1983 Pan American Games Silver Medalist (178 lbs) in Caracas, Venezuela
  
• 1984 National Golden Gloves Gold Medalist (178 lbs) in St. Louis, Missouri.
  
• 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials Bronze Medalist (178 lbs) in Fort Worth, Texas.
  
• 1984 Olympic Games Bronze Medalist (178 lbs) in Los Angeles, California.

He has an incredible résumé as a pro too going 44-10-2 with 29 KOs and beating

Dwight Muhammad Qawi 2*
Michael Dokes
Buster Douglas
George Foreman
Bert Cooper
Larry Holmes
Riddick Bowe
Ray Mercer
Mike Tyson 2*
Micheal Moorer
Hasim Rahman

It's highly debatable whether him or Lewis are the number 1 HW of the 90s, to me it's Lewis with Holyfield as a very, very close second.

I watched him fight

Riddick Bowe 1
Lennox Lewis 1&2
George Foreman
Larry Holmes
Micheal Moorer 1
Buster Douglas
Bert Cooper

He never showed for an instant he had a percentage of quit in him and brawled whenever he wanted, which wasn't very clever. He had decent power, more than he's given credit for here.
He had handy boxing skills, but he rarely boxed.
He had lots of technical flaws, that elite HW boxers could take advantage of.

He had very cagy footwork, a mean left hook, good lead crosses and one of the best inside games the HW division ever saw, he was a real handful in his prime. And what's more is you'd be hard pressed to find some one who had more heart. His chin was built of iron as well taking some huge shots of Bowe, Lewis and Foreman.


He's not without his fair share of controversy however, he was awarded a debatable Decision against Riddick Bowe l in the second outing as well as a draw vs Lennox Lewis. He was on the wrong end of another controversial decision against the Super sized Nickolai Valuev, which had he won (like some/most believe) would have claim to being a 5 time HW champ and being the oldest one ever at the end of a huge height, reach and weight disadvantage. It's arguable he was robbed of one of the greatest wins ever in one of the worst fights.
He has always been criticized for his constant use of Headbutts.

The biggest controversy in Evander's career is his alter ego, aka Evan Fields. Evan was a patient of a Applied Pharmacy Services, Evan, whilst not actually Evander had the same address, the same birthday and when the police/investigators rang the number linked with the name, Evander himself answered. It is said that Evan bought drugs from here from 1988 to 2006, basically all of Holyfield's career at World Level.

 

Fixed it

 

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time researching for this thread