Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Evander Holyfield booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company for booking Evander Holyfield speaker appearances, autograph signing, endorsement deals or hiring Evander Holyfield as a keynote speaker for your next event. Find Evander Holyfield official website information, speaker fees, booking fees, costs and schedule. Boxing great, Evander Holyfield, was born on October 19, 1962 in Fayette County, Georgia. Holyfield is a multiple world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal". Holyfield won the bronze medal in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics after a controversial disqualification in the semifinal.

Evander Holyfield plans to make a comeback against Nikolai Valuev for the WBA world championship in December 2008. If he wins, he will be the oldest heavyweight champion ever at an age of 46.

By this time, in what many consider to be the biggest upset in sports history, relatively unknown boxer, 29-year old, 231 lb. James Douglas defeated the 23-year old, 218 lb. Mike Tyson in ten rounds in Tokyo to become the new undisputed heavyweight champion. Evander Holyfield had been promised a title shot against Tyson after this fight and he accepted. Instead, he would be Douglas' first title defense. Douglas came into the fight at 246 lbs.

Douglas offered little in the fight against Holyfield, who was in great shape at 208 lbs, with the exception of one right hand over the top of Evander's jab. In the third round, Douglas tried to start a combination with a big right uppercut. Holyfield countered with a straight right hand that was lightning quick, and Douglas went down for the count. Holyfield was the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. At the time of the knockout, Holyfield was ahead on all three judges' scorecards, all seeing it 20-18 for Holyfield.

In his first defense, Evander Holyfield beat former and future world champion George Foreman by unanimous decision in 12. The fight was billed as a "Battle for the Ages," a reference to the age differential between the young undefeated champion (28 years old), and the much older George Foreman (42 years old, and who had previously been defeated twice - by Muhammad Ali, by KO in 8 and by Jimmy Young, by a unanimous decision after 15 rounds). Holyfield weighed in at 208 pounds and Foreman weighed in at 257 pounds. Foreman lost the fight by a unanimous decision, but surprised many by lasting the whole 12 rounds against a much younger opponent, even staggering Holyfield a few times and knocking him off balance in the seventh round.

Then a deal was signed for him to defend his crown against Mike Tyson in November 1991. Tyson delayed the fight, claiming he was injured in training, but was then convicted for the rape of Desiree Washington and sentenced to six years in prison, so the fight did not happen at that time. It would happen in 1996 (Holyfield won by a TKO in 11) and a rematch in 1997. Evander Holyfield won by disqualification in 3, after Tyson bit both of his ears).

Evander Holyfield made his next defense in Atlanta against Bert Cooper, who surprised him with a very good effort. Holyfield scored the first knockdown of the fight against Cooper with a powerful shot to the body, but Cooper returned the favor with a good right hand that sent Holyfield against the ropes; while not an actual knowkdown, referee Mills Lane gave Holyfield a standing 8-count. Having suffered the first technical knockdown of his professional career, Holyfield regained his composure quickly and administered a beating that left Cooper still on his feet, but unable to defend himself. Holyfield landed brutal power shots, culminated by repeated vicious uppercuts that would snap Cooper's head back. Referee Mills Lane stopped the bout in the seventh.

In his first fight of 1992, he faced former world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, who was 42 years old, and had just pulled off an upset against Ray Mercer. During the bout, Holyfield suffered the first scar of his career with a gash opening up over his eye, the result of Holmes' elbow. The main difference in the fight was that the younger Holyfield could muster the energy to fight for the full three minutes of each round, while the older and more experienced Holmes could not. The fight ended with a unanimous decision in favor of Holyfield.

In the beginning of a trilogy of bouts with the 25-year old Olympic silver medalist Riddick Bowe, he suffered his first defeat when Bowe won the undisputed title by a 12-round unanimous decision in Las Vegas. Round Ten of that bout was named the Round of the Year by Ring Magazine. Holyfield was knocked down in round 11. He made the mistake of getting into a slugfest with the younger, bigger and stronger Bowe, leading to his defeat.

He began 1993 by beating Alex Stewart in a rematch, but this time over the 12-round unanimous distance.

Then came the rematch with Bowe on November 6, 1993. In what is considered by many sporting historians as one of the most bizarre moments in boxing's history, during round seven the crowd got off their feet and many people started to run for cover and yell. Evander Holyfield took his eyes off Bowe for one moment and then told Bowe to look up to the skies. What they saw was a man in a parachute flying dangerously close to them. The man almost entered the ring, but his parachute had gotten entangled in the lights, and he landed on the ropes and apron of the ring, and he was then pulled into the crowd, where he was beaten by members of Bowe's entourage. Bowe's pregnant wife, Judy, fainted and had to be taken to the hospital from the arena. Twenty minutes later, calm was restored and Holyfield went on to recover his world heavyweight titles with a close 12 round majority decision. The man who parachuted down to the middle of the ring became known as The Fan Man and the fight itself became known as the Fan Man Fight. His victory over Bowe that year helped Holyfield being named as ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year for 1993.

PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent PFP is a speakers bureau and booking agency providing Evander Holyfield speaker, personal appearance and endorsement information. Booking Evander Holyfield for appearances, as a motivational speaker, keynote speaker, for a fundraising event, grand opening, television or radio commercial, PR campaign or trade show is easy through our agency. For more info, contact Evander Holyfield through PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent at 1.800.966.1380.