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...

Since it's re-introduction in 1986, the British super-featherweight title was a difficult championship to keep hold of. It took fourteen champions and eight years for one to make a first successful defence. Here is a list of the British super-featherweight champions:- John Doherty - 16th January to 17th April 1986   Doherty didn't have the greatest start to his professional career, losing his debut to Taffy Mills in the first round on 26th May 1982. The Bradford-born Doherty then got back on track by winning his next eight and getting back-to-back draws against Ray Plant and Steve Enwright in 1983. He then lost his next bout to Anthony Brown over a six-round points decision. After two wins he ended 1983 with a seventh-round TKO defeat to Stuart Carmichael. He drew his first contest of 1984 against Les Walsh over eight rounds, then went on a winning streak of ten victories over two years, including a win over Les Walsh in a rematch. On 16th January 1986 he ...

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson was born in Accra, Ghana on 19th July 1958. He had an amateur record of 50-2 and picked up the featherweight gold medal at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada. He turned professional on 01st December 1979, beating fellow countryman and debutant Billy Kwame, winning a ten-round points decision.  As a professional he had a meteoric rise, winning the Ghanaian featherweight title in only his third contest, beating Henry Saddler with a ninth-round knockout. In his sixth fight, he was African champion, winning by a tenth-round TKO over Joe Skipper. He beat Australian Brian Roberts for the vacant Commonwealth featherweight crown with a fifth-round TKO in bout number ten. On 21st July 1982 at the Mecca of boxing, Madison Square Graden, New York, Nelson, in his fourteenth contest, came in as a late substitute and challenged Mexican great Salvador Sanchez for the WBC featherweight crown. Sanchez, hailing from Tianguistenco, Mexico ...