Evander Holyfield is a retired professional boxer and ex-world heavyweight champion. He was born on October 19, 1962 in Atmore, Alabama. He was the youngest of 9 children and began boxing at the age of 12 when he won the  Boys Club boxing tournament. By the age of 13, he competed in the Junior World Olympics and by 15, he was the Southeastern Regional Champion. At the age of 20, he won a silver medal in the 1983 Pan American Games held in Venezuela. The very next year, he won the bronze medal at the 1984  Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California. He was disqualified in the second round of the semifinal for allegedly hitting his opponent during the break but this decision was controversial. He still won the bronze medal in the competition.

Holyfield had his first professional fight in the light heavyweight category in November 1984. In 1986, he defeated Dwight Mohammad Qawi to become the World Boxing Association’s World Cruiserweight Champion. After intensive training to improve his physique and game, he finally contended for the World Heavyweight title in 1990, after defeating James “Buster” Douglas in 7 minutes, who back then held the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council championship titles.

Evander Holyfield lost his title to Riddick Bowe in 1992. This was his first professional defeat and he was devastated enough to contemplate retirement. However, he picked himself up again and regained his title from Bowe in 1993. The very next year, however, he lost it again to Michael Moorer. For a time his career came to a standstill as he struggled with health problems, but he was soon back on track and jumped into ring with one of the most famous boxers of all time, Mike Tyson. Holyfield defeated Tyson in their very first match in 1996, winning the title of WBA Champion. In 1997, he met Tyson in the ring for a second time. During the match, Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear twice, the second time he even bit off a piece of his ear off. The event received immense media