Heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield has revealed the exact moment he decided to walk away from boxing.
‘The Real Deal’ had a professional boxing career to remember, where he became the first fighter in the history of the sport to captured the undisputed world championship at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.
His victory over James ‘Buster’ Douglas in October 1990 saw him capture the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. repeating the feat that he achieved at the 200lb limit when he defeated Carlos De Leon just 2-years prior.
Holyfield made several successful defences of his crown, defeating both ‘Big’ George Foreman and Larry Holmes during this period, before he was dethroned by Riddick Bowe in the first of their three encounters which took place at the end of 1992.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, ‘The Real Deal’ admitted that he made the decision to retire from boxing after he struggled to keep up with the pace set by a young Andy Ruiz Jr during a sparring session they had when the Mexican-American was just 19-years-old.
“When I sparred that guy Ruiz and when he was 19 years old he was able to tag me, I knew then [it was over]. I don’t pass my age range where it no longer makes sense to get hit like that by somebody you think you should be able to beat, because experience and all this, but he had speed and I was losing speed.”
Ruiz is perhaps best known for causing one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he knocked out Anthony Joshua in 2019 to become the WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight champion, although the 35-year-old would fall short in their rematch just 6-months later.
