The Boxing History Blog

Evander Holyfield  Evander Holyfield Vs Alex Stewart II After his first defeat to Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield contemplated retirement saying “I don’t want to box for a very long time.” He did however return to the ring on 26th June 1993 against Alex Stewart. Holyfield struggled with Stewart the last time they met, but under new trainer Emanuel Steward, Holyfield tipped the scales at his heaviest ever. The contest wasn't as exciting as their previous meeting and Holyfield won the bout by scores of 119-109 and two cards of 118-110. Alex Stewart won his next seven contests in a three-year period. He was stopped in the eighth round by Craig Petersen in November 1996. His career petered out losing to Oleg Maskaev, Phil Jackson and Lance Whitaker. His final bout took place in June 1999 where he was stopped in the second round by the Cuban Jorge Luis Gonzalez, leaving the sport with a 43-10 (40 KO's) resume. Stewart died on 16th November 2016, aged fifty-two...

Mike Tyson Mike Tyson with new trainer Richie Giachetti The Road Back James 'Buster' Douglas was scheduled to face top contender Evander Holyfield in June 1990, but as he was in a legal dispute with Don King, that bout was pushed back to the September. Mike Tyson, however, did return to the ring on the 16th June 1990 against Henry Tillman. Tillman did manage to beat Tyson twice in the unpaid ranks, for the 1984 Olympic Trials, finally winning gold in the heavyweight division in Los Angeles. But his professional career didn't emulate his amateur resume.  He started out at cruiserweight and won ten in a row, including a heavyweight contest against Tyson foe Reggie Gross, winning a ten round unanimous decision. Tillman then fought Bert Cooper for the NABF cruiserweight title. Cooper knocked him down twice in the second round, firstly by a left hook, then again by an overhand right to the head before going on to winning a twelve unanimous decision. He ...

The last time these two fought was in the 1988 Olympic Super-heavyweight final, where Lewis; who was representing Canada; took gold with a second-round stoppage of the American Bowe. Both men turned professional, with Lewis taking his original British roots under the promoter Frank Maloney. Even though Lewis was born in London and didn't up sticks until he was twelve years old, the public took time to warm to this man claiming to be British with a Canadian accent. Lewis turned pro on 27th June 1989 against Al Malcolm, who he stopped in the second round. Bowe turned professional with Rock Newman's promotional outfit, under the tutelage of the great trainer Eddie Futch. On 06th March 1989 he defeated future danger-man Lionel Butler (who had a record of 0-1-0) in two rounds of his professional bow. Both Lewis and Bowe stayed unbeaten in their first twelve months in the paid ranks. You could say arguably Bowe was the more impressive of the two as Lewis struggled to win ...