The ESB British Forum Encyclopedia

Pretty much how I see it. Marcel would go on to become an ATG Feather, but was still a useful Junior Lightweight as well. One of Durans best wins for sure.

 

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 3/3: 1996-Present

After being stopped for the 1st time in his career for many it was time for the 33year old, 2-time former champion to retire. Years of fighting against much bigger men had taken its toll along with injuries & illnesses, but Holy still dreamed of being the undisputed heavyweight champion again. He didnt look great in his comeback fight against the former middleweight Bobby Czyz but in 1996 the fight that should have first taken place in 1991 was finally on, Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson:bbb

Since his release from prison in 1995 Tyson had destroyed his first 4 opponents, beating the WBC champion Bruno & then Bruce Sheldon for the WBA title. Mike looked as devastating as ever, in a poll of 40 US boxing writers 39 picked Tyson & many feared for Evander's safety. After Tyson staggered Holy within the first few seconds it seemed clear how the fight would progress but unlike so many of Tyson's previous opponents Evander didnt wilt or crumble, he fought back & started boxing well.

In the 6th a clash of heads opened a cut over Tyson's eye & Holyfield knocked him down when off-balance with a left hook to the chest. Another clash of heads opened up a cut over his other eye late in the 7th. In the 10th, with Tyson tiring Holy landed a series of combinations highlighted by a straight right that put Mike out on his feet until he was saved by the bell moments later. The 11th began in similar fashion with Holy landing hard combinations until the ref steps in to make him the new WBA and now 3-time heavyweight champion of the world! A feat that only Ali had previously accomplished :happy

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwbqLvX6whQ[/ame]

After the fight Tyson's camp protested about the headclashes/cuts & an immediate rematch was negotiated, it would prove to be one of the most infamous & controversial fights in history. In the ring Tyson looked fitter & sharper this time round but in the 2nd a clash of heads reopened a cut suffered in pre-fight sparring.

Tyson came out for the 3rd round without his mouthpiece & was sent back to his corner. Mike started stongly but they had both wrestled with each other from the opening clinch & the ref Mills Lane struggled to seperate them. Towards the end of the 3rd when in a clinch Tyson twisted his head & bit off a piece of Holyfield's right ear:scaredas:

Evander jumped into air in agony & the ref called time. When he turned his back to walk back to his corner Tyson shoved him into the ropes & then returned to his own corner as the ringside doctor was summoned. Holy insisted he was OK & the fight should continue & Tyson was deducted 2 points. The fight restarted & a few moments later Tyson bit Holy's left ear but both fighters carried on to the end of the round. During the interlude the ref disqualifies Tyson for the 2nd bite & Mike goes wild, throwing punches at everyone in his path

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOIHy78ckpI&feature=related[/ame]

His next fight was both a unification & a rematch against IBF champion Micheal Moorer. MM started well & was ahead until being dropped by a right hook in the 5th. In the 7th Holy rocked Moorer with some powerful shots & knocked him down twice with uppercuts. After knocking him down twice in the 8th with combinations the game Moorer rose before the count but the fight was halted before the 9th could begin making Holyfield the unified WBA/IBF champ, but Holyfield still dreamed of becoming the undisputed champion again & wanted to fight the WBC champion Lennox Lewis.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6SfVMIdCII[/ame]

(2nd fight starts around 4.10)

Holyfield-Lewis took place in Madison Square Garden in 1999. Lewis was younger, had a longer reach & outweighed Holy by 30lbs. It was a close & competitive fight that most people thought Lewis had won but was scored as a controversial draw. The rematch was a better fight than the original & after 12 rounds Lewis won close but clear on all 3 judges scorecards to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Their rematch was the highest ever $ gate in Nevada, the 2nd & 3rd highest were the 2 Holyfield-Tyson fights.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMhzGByKpi8[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn8vGZWQwtI&feature=related[/ame]

In 2000 the WBA stripped Lewis of his title after he refused to fight John Ruiz. To determine their new champion the 28 year-old (36-3) fought for the vacant title & was beaten via UD by Holyfield who at 37 became the only man to win the heavyweight crown 4 times.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpY8JpBgtqQ[/ame]

The aging Holyfield lost a rematch with Ruiz by decision and then fought to a draw their 3rd fight leaving Ruiz as the champion. After a TD win over Hasim Rahman which left Rahman with a horrific swelling...
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi8oA8b14x4&feature=related[/ame]

Holy fought Chris Byrd for the vacant IBF title but lost by UD & reinjured his shoulder. In his next fight against James Toney his corner threw in the towel in the 9th. This was followed by a career worst performance in a wide UD loss to Larry Donald & Holyfield finally retired (for the second time) in 2004.

After surgery on his shoulder & taking a rest from boxing Holyfield felt fit & healthy again & began his comeback in 2006. Fighting in Texas he won 4 consecutive fights & got a title fight in Russia against WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov. Bidding to become champion for the 5th time Holyfield lost a by a wide decision but he still wasnt finished.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4TuWSuTYU0[/ame]

He then challenged the giant 7ft WBA champion Nikolai Valuev. At the age of 46 & outweighed by almost 100lbs Holy lost by a close majority decision many thought he deserved to win.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCQrBRJX7Hs&feature=related[/ame]

In 2010 Holyfield beat Francios Botha to win the lightly regarded WBF title & at 48 he is still fighting.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chGmtKln6oo[/ame]

Part 1/3 Amatuer, light-heavy & cruiserweight
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10383856&postcount=594

Part 2/3 Heavyweight 1988-1995
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10703664&postcount=829

 

Taken as a whole, that was one of my favourite pieces Mo.

Epic work for an epic fighter, anything less would've done Evander, one of my favourites, a disservice.

Well done :good

 

Nice job Moeseph :good

I like how our recent peices co-incide (oh yeah, I haven't done Tyson pt. II yet :yep)

 

Maybe I'll have to get round to Lennox soon then :yep

Does he warrant 3 pieces as well? I don't think he does....I guess two will suffice ;-)

 

Cheers:good

Ive also updated parts 1 & 2 & added extra footage.

Thankyou :good
The excellent Tyson post made me get my arse in gear & finish what I started

 

Jimmy Bivins ‘The Cleveland Spiderman’ 86 (31 KOs) – 25 (5) - 1
Date of Birth 6/12/1919
Division – Light Heavyweight
Stance – Orthodox
Height – 5ft 9

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Born in Dry Branch Georgia but fighting out of Cleveland, Ohio, Jimmy Bivins simply loved to fight, terrorising the greats of his era with his aggressive style. While being inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999, he would be largely forgotten by the majority of fans, many of which look to the greats like Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Charley Burly, Joey Maxim, and Lloyd Marshall for their inspiration. Jimmy Bivins, however, brutalised them all.

Starting his professional career in the freezing January conditions in 1940, Bivins, then a Middleweight, knocked out the unimpressive Emory Morgan in the second round. Having nicely plodded along for the first six months of his career, Bivins’ first real test came against Frankie Hughes, a veteran of almost 150 fights whom he beat via a decision over 8 rounds. Having mustered a 14-0 record by September of that year, Jimmy would come up against the awe inspiring, and future Middleweight kingpin, Charley Burley, who outweighed Bivins by 8lbs on the night. Despite still being a relative novice to the game, Bivins was to outpoint the great Burley, dropping only three rounds en route to a 10 round unanimous decision. His first year was to end in disappointment, however, as he lost a MD to Anton Christoforidis (whom he had previously beaten), despite dropping him for a long 9 count in the second.

1941 would be a frustrating year for the ‘Cleveland Spiderman’, as, having stepped you to Light Heavyweight, he lost three of his eight fights that year, including dropping a ten round decision to the veteran Melio Bettina. He did, however, manage to defeat the future Hall of Famer Teddy Yarosz. 1942 started just as badly with Bivins losing to Bob Pastor via Split Decision. Jimmy Bivins would not lose again for the next four years.


This impressive record began when he decision’ed the future great Joey Maxim (who would later ‘stop’ Sugar Ray Robinson, the man universally considered to the Greatest of all time – even though I disagree) over 10 rounds. He avenged his loss to Bob Pastor, before taking on the greatest Light Heavyweight of all time, the ‘Cincinnati Cobra’ Ezzard Charles in a fight for the ages. Even with Charles landing heavy blows on Bivins, the ‘Spiderman’ would simply batter Ezzard for ten gruelling rounds, knocking down the pound for pound king a total of seven times, six of which were for the count of 9. Charles, however, just would not quit, rising each time to return fire. Charles managed to last until the final bell, but dropped a clear unanimous decision.

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Bivins’ winning streak continued by knocking out the great Lloyd Marshall (whom himself has a more than impressive record) in the 13th round. Bivin’s power had seemingly come into its own when he stopped up to Heavyweight. He twice outpointed the very good Lee Q Murray, dropping him in the process, KO’ed Buddy Walker (66-18-5) in just two rounds, as well as stopping Buddy Scott (82-18-6) in four. With his impressive record continuing, a fight with the formidable Archie Moore was scheduled for late 1945 in the Lakefront Stadium. Entering the ring with 72 wins to his name, and having just beaten Lloyd Marshall, the concussive power of Moore barely had time to show itself as Bivins knocked Archie down three times in the second. Controversey surrounded the third round however, as, following a slip, Bivins hit Moore with a hard shot while he was on the canvas. After a five minute recovery period, Bivins continued to batter the helpless Moore at will, knocking him down twice in the 5th, before stopping him in the 6th. With this win, Bivins cemented himself in boxing folk law.

Bivins’ run would finally come to an end at the start of 1946, dropping a very strange decision to the great Jersey Joe Walcott. The fight, which saw Bivins on the canvas in the third, was scored by one judge as 6-4 in favour of Bivins, while another, somewhat dubiously, scored it 9 rounds to 1 in favour of Walcott. The deciding judge, having already scored the fight to Bivins by 5-4-1, overturned his decision and declared Jersey Joe the winner due to the third round knockdown.

Jimmy Bivins was never really the same fighter after he lost his four year unbeaten record. He came out on the losing side of three further fights with Lee Q Murray, he lost a decision to Ezzard Charles in later 1946 and was stopped in four by the same fighter a year later. Archie Moore also gained his revenge on Bivins, battering the Cleveland fighter into submission in 1947, putting him down in the third, seventh and eighth before Jimmy failed to answer for the 9th. He would have three further fights with Moore, being stopped in two of them.

His 5th fight with Moore can be seen here:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBHz6vDwuA[/ame]

Sandwiched between his losses to Moore, Bivins lost to Ezzard Charles for the third time, as well as dropping a decision against Joe Louis, while Joey Maxim also gained his revenge, winning a split decision.

The last Charles fight can be seen here:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJPgXWk7RM&feature=related[/ame]

Over this somewhat mixed period, Bivins did manage KO wins over Booker Beckwith and Watson Jones, while also outpointing Curtis Sheppard, Turkey Thompson and Pat Valentino. Bivins was to retire from the ring in 1955 after a points victory over Mike DeJohn, some 15 years after making his pro debut.

For all of his greatness, Jimmy Bivins never once battled for a World Title in the three weight classes he fought in. What is even more frustrating, footage of the great man from Cleveland in his prime remains rare, with only his late losses to Moore and Charles available on YouTube. Bivins celebrated his 90th birthday in 2009, ten years after he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Jimmy Bivins – the man who defeated the greats of his day remains forgotten by most.

 

Good post Vano, Bivins is someone Ive barely heard of & knew nothing about:good

BTW its folklore not folk law, 5th paragraph

 

Cheers Mo :good

That's the thing that bugs me about him. He had so many good wins (and that four year unbeaten record was suburb to say the least). There's not many that can say they outpointed Charles, out manuvoured Burley, and out gunned Moore.

 

Very nice, big Bivins fan.

Ain't read it properly yet, but I don't think you can really say Maxim 'stopped Robinson' ;-)

 

I no Flea. I did say 'stopped' with the quote marks, but we all know what really happened :good

 

True! But I will say that the Encyclopedia was built in with 'noobs' in mind, so as not to mislead them I would put a (Robinson retired due to the extreme heat) or whatnot.....just in case ;-)

 

Now I pretty much have to do an Archie Moore one and a Joey Maxim one, and that rounds off a pretty good bunch during the 40s-50s that I've done.

Jersey Joe Walcott
Ezzard Charles
Jimmy Bivins
Archie Moore
And Joey Maxim

Damn, what an era! I suppose we could even throw in Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis. A seriously stacked era of Light Heavys and Heavys. Plus throw in ELMER RAY :happy

 

:nono You don't throw in Joe Louis.

Right, Starling will deffo' get done next atsch