The Boxing History Blog

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield sporting his 1984  Olympic Bronze Medal Born in Atmore, Alabama on 19th October 1962, Evander Holyfield's hometown became Atlanta, Georgia. Holyfield took up boxing and in 1984 took the National Golden Gloves light-heavyweight title. He also represented USA in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, where he picked up a bronze medal. Holyfield probably threw the punch of the entire tournament, catching New Zealand's Kevin Barry in the semifinal with a left hook. Barry stumbled to the canvas, regained his feet but was still on wobbly legs. The Yugoslavian referee deemed the punch a foul as Holyfield landed it when he called break, and disqualified the American. Holyfield claimed he never heard the command and the US team filed a complaint. They said the punch was thrown before the break call, deeming the punch legal, the noise level of the crowd so high that their man couldn't of heard the command and Barry was in the process of

Miguel Angel Cotto was born in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States on 29th October 1980, but he fought out of his hometown Caguas in Puerto Rico. Cotto started boxing at the age of eleven and as an amateur complied a record of 125-23. In 1993 he lost on points to fellow Puerto Rican and future minimum and light-flyweight champion Ivan Calderon. In 1997 he lifted the gold medal lightweight title at the Pan American Championships in Columbia. In 1998 he picked up silver medals in the junior Pan America Championships and the World Junior Championships and the Central American and Caribbean Games, all in the lightweight division. In 1999 he stepped up to the light-welterweight division and in 2000 won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games held in Venezuela. That year he represented Puerto Rico at the Sydney Olympics, losing to Muhammad Abdullaev in the round of sixteen. The following February he made his professional debut against fellow debutant Jason Do