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He was supposed to turn into a bit of a **** round about the Monzon fight. Lots of partying and drinking and then in the gym he would be a **** to other fighters to impress his hangers on. Turned into a real prima donna

 

That's a shame. Obviously didn't last for long though, he was winding down by then.

His scar tissue is horrendous by the time of the Stracey fight though. He doesn't look human, the swelling is insane.

 

Yeh, dunno if he is still a **** though.

Rafeal Limon is supposed to be a bit of a **** as well. Real shame that, he was an idol.

 

I've taken your esteemed word for it Greg and made a few alterations. It's much better now, especially now I've got to the end of my chronological journey through Napoles' best fights, and seen how badly Stracey got to him at the end.

Hopefully LP will now get a more balanced view of Napoles' achievements :good

Greg; Napoles Vs Locche @ 140??? :hey

 

Is Napoles not dead?

Limon always came across as a hard, nasty ******* to me. I wouldnae wanna **** with him.

 

I'll check it out.

Nah, Jose is still ticking I think.

Limon is a hard wee *******, would fit in well in Glesga IMO.

 

That Napoles post was excellent Moe, very good work.

I've been working on a lengthy Holyfield piece that I'll have to split into 2 parts. Depending on the weather it'll be finished tomorrow.

 

As a big fan of Evander and of your contributions, I look forward to it :good

 

Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
Undisputed cruiserweight & heavyweight world champion
1984 Olympic light-heavyweight bronze medal​

Born:19/10/1962 Atmore, Alabama, USA
Height:6 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1.89 m)
Reach:78 in (198 cm)
Professional record: 44(29)-10(2)-2-1

Part 1/3: Amatuer, light-heavyweight & cruiserweight.

Evander Holyfield is one of the most successful & decorated boxers of all time & is one of boxing's greatest ever warriors. He remains the only man to be the undisputed champion at both cruiser & heavyweight. In his 26year professional career he has fought more than 20 past, present or future world champions & had 24 world title bouts. He has also had some of the most exctitng, brutal, controversial, & surreal fights in history.

Evander was born in a small town in the deep south of the US as the youngest of 9 children. His father was his mother's 2nd partner & a gentle giant of a lumberjack called Isob Coley who left the family before Evander was born & played no part in raising him. Growing up in a poor, black single parent family life was tough for Evander but his mother & grandmother were loving yet very strict & deeply religious with a strong work ethic.

Evander began boxing at a local boy's club at the age of 8 & his coach, Morgan Carter played a pivotal role in his development not only as a boxer but as a person up until his death when Evander was 16, after he died his son Ted took over as trainer. The young Holyfield found success through hard work & dedication & rose up the amatuer rankings, becoming a regional champ before winning the Golden Gloves in St Louis in 1984 with 5 consecutive knockouts. It was at this tournament Evander met the young Mike Tyson for the 1st time although they fought in different divisions.

Later that year Holyfield won a box-off in the Olympic trials against the outstanding amatuer Ricky Womack (who was trained by Emmanuel Steward & ranked #1 in the world) to qualify for the Olympics in Los Angeles. Evander beat Womack twice on consecutive days having previously lost to him in other tournaments. At the same trials Tyson was beaten twice by Henry Tillman & missed out on the chance to win a medal.

The 1984 American boxing team was one of the finest ever assembled, it included Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker & dominated the games. Evander knocked out his 1st 3 opponents & met the New Zealander Kevin Barry in the semi-final. The fight proved to be highly controversial & the referee for the bout was Yugoslavian, the same nationality as Anton Jusipovic who had already reached the final.

Evander dominated his opponent who was repeatedly warned, given a standing 8 count & had 2 point deductions for holding. Near the end of the second round & whilst punching out of a clinch Evander landed a left hook flush & knocked the game Barry down. The fight looked finished but the ref had called break a fraction before the final punch had landed. The ref then disqualified Holyfield & raised the hand of Barry infront of a furious homecrowd.

Despite his obvious dissappointment Holyfield was widely praised for the dignity & composure he showed despite the terrible decision against him. Barry was too badly beat up to compete in the final & the gold went to Jusipovic, incidentally Barry was later involved in training David Tua. Holyfield later learned that due to his DQ he would be stripped of his bronze medal but a successful appeal re-instated him as a medalist.

After the Olympics Evander turned professional & signed with Main Events promotions. He made his debut later that year on a card titled "A night of gold" with his former teammates Whitaker, Taylor, Briggs & Breland. In his first fight he was up against the LHW champion of Pennsylvania Lionel Byarm & won a hard fought decision over 6 rounds. A cracking little fight well worth a watch. It also contains footage of that infamous Olympic semi-final :bbb

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVgz6YC2_hQ[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsaM93jsMaI&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxm2A9C9Dkc&feature=related[/ame]

Following up this win with 3 victories early in 1985 the still growing Holyfield was finding it impossible to make the 175lb limit & began to campaign at the newly formed cruiserweight division (190lbs) His 1st fight at the weight going the distance against the wonderfully named Tyrone Booze was followed by 6 successive wins by knockout earning him a shot at the WBA champion, Dwight Mohammed Qawi in only his 13th pro fight! Qawi deserves a post of his own on this thread, a remarkable man who at only 5'7 (he is listed at 5'5.5 in boxrec) was built like a tank & a determined & skillfull brawler.

Their 1987 bout is one of the finest cruiserweight fights of all time & a classic confrontation of old warrior vs young lion, brawler vs boxer (Muslim vs Christian :-( ). In a high-tempo, extremely competitive fight momentum ebbed & flowed between both combatants but after 15rounds of high quality action Holyfield won by split decision to become the new WBA cruiserweight champion. Post-fight Evander was rushed to hospital after collapsing in the shower. He had lost 15lbs in bodyweight during the fight & during the final few rounds his body had been burning muscle for energy, his kidneys weren't functioning properly & he was urinating blood. After rehydrating him with a reported 2 gallons of saline solution through IVs he was discharged the following day with no lasting damage.

After a non-title win in Paris his 1st title defense was against Tyson's old nemises Henry Tillman. Evander put in a dominating performance, knocking him down in the 2nd then 3 times in the 7th to win via TKO

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KmgJoPkZRk[/ame]

Next up in 1987 was a unification fight with IBF champion & fellow American Ricky Parkey in Las Vegas. Parkey was a tough fighter with decent skill & a high workrate but Holyfield was a class above his game opponent. A short but exciting 3 round fight well worth a watch.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KtK660w4wE[/ame]

Evanders next defense of his WBA & IBF titles was against the former heavyweight contender & cruiser champion Ossie Ocasio. The Puerto Rican was quick, stylish & elusive but was ground down & stopped in the 11th. After this came a rematch against a fading Qawi who Evander knocked out in the 4th with an excellent right hand. (Footage of both Qawi fights below)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L50gu8Kr9k[/ame]

In 1988 in his final fight fight at cruiser Holyfield faced the great Puerto Rican WBC champion Carlos de Leon who had 1st won the title back in 1980. After a close 1st round Holyfield increased the pace & won every round until stopping him in the 8th. The crafty old De Leon was incredibly tough & showed tremendous heart but Holy was reaching his physical prime & was relentless with his punches & combinations. This is one of my favourite performances by him & I would strongly recommend you watch this fight.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcN1WOEdl5g[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX713BXN4Eo&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmHnrdfQCos&feature=related[/ame]

Aged 25 & 17-0 Holyfield had no more worlds to conquer at cruiser. The bigger challenges & paydays awaited at heavy & the prospect of fighting Mike Tyson loomed on the horizon :bbb

Part 2: Heavyweight 1988-1995
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/...&postcount=829

 

Doc', that is a great start :happy

Holy' is a big fave of mine

 

Cheers
I could have sworn someone (probably Flea) did a post on Qawi:think

I'll have to add more detail about him & the video of their fight.

 

No, but maybe you're getting it mixed up with his Saad entry :good

 

Napoles beats Locche, higher class IMO and too active

 

His laser-like shots against the Argies defence would be interesting :yep

I think Napoles is too smart to play Locches game and picks him off to a decision.

 

thanks Moe, great post, aint seen all the footage yet but will defo over the weekend when i got some spare time

i'll be doing my next 1 on Jesus Chavez :good