Evander Holyfield has gone toe to toe with some of the biggest punchers of his generation – but one stands out above the rest.
During an illustrious career stretching from 1984 to 2011, ‘The Real Deal’ achieved undisputed supremacy in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
He unified all the major cruiserweight belts in 1988 by dispatching Cuban technician Carlos de Leon and then did the same at heavyweight two years later when he flattened Buster Douglas at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City.
In the first defence of his undisputed heavyweight crown in April 1991, Holyfield defeated George Foreman over the distance in a fight billed ‘The Battle of the Ages’.
At the time, Foreman was 42 years old and was fighting for the heavyweight world titles for the first time since making a miraculous return to the ring in 1987 following a ten-year hiatus.
Despite being well past his best, Foreman still possessed an almighty punch, which Holyfield can attest to.
“The guy that hit me the hardest was George Foreman,” he told DontaesBoxingNation.
“He hit me one time in the 11th round, and I came back to the corner and I said, ‘Did he knock all my teeth out?’
“They told me, ‘You alright’. And I knew in the game of boxing they will tell you anything.
“So in the 12th round, I held him a lot.
“And in the press conference, they said ‘You had to hold on’.
“But I beat him left and right so I ain’t going to let him knock me out because I am too self-centred.
“I felt I had to hold him. I ain’t going to let a guy win in one round.
“He came out in that 12th round, he was trying to get me so I grabbed him and held him.”
Expanding on the punch that hit him during a separate interview with DJ Vlad, Holyfield added: “I thought I lost my teeth.
“When I went back I asked them, ‘What did he hit me with?’
“They said, ‘He hit you with a looping right’. A looping right means you don’t see it because he threw it wide and it came down, bam.
“My hands were up and it came between them so I didn’t see it.”
Being coined the hardest-punching opponent of Holyfield’s career is a massive compliment.
The boxing icon has arguably the best résumé of any fighter from the 1990s.
Among the seemingly endless list of talented pugilists he has locked horns with are Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, James Toney, and Larry Holmes.
