Cruiserweight
Both he and his next opponent, Tyrone Booze, moved up
to the cruiserweight division for their fight on July 20th, 1985,
in Norfolk Virginia. Evander Holyfield won an eight-round decision
over Booze. He then went on to knock out Rick Myers in the first round
on August 29th in his hometown of Atlanta. On October 30th in Atlantic
City, Holyfield knocked out opponent Jeff Meachem in five rounds,
and his land fight for 1985 was against Anthony Davis on December
21st in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He won by knocking out Davis in
the fourth round.
He began 1986 with a knockout in three rounds over
former world cruiserweight challenger Chisanda Mutti, and proceeded
to beat Jessy Shelby and Terry Mis before being given a world title
try by the WBA Cruiserweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. In what
was called by The Ring as the best cruiserweight bout of the 1980s,
Holyfield became world champion by defeating Qawi by a narrow 15 round
split decision. He culminated 1986 with a trip to Paris, France where
he beat Mike Brothers by a knockout in three, in a non-title bout.
In
1987, he defended his title against former Olympic teammate and Gold
medal winner Henry Tillma, who had beaten Mike Tyson twice as an amateur.
He retained his belt, winning by seventh-round knocout, and then went
on to unify by WBA belt with the IBF belt held by Ricky Parkey, knocking
Parkey out in three rounds. For his next bout, he returned to France,
where he retained the title with an eleven-round knockout against
former world champion ossie Ocasio. In his last fight of 1987, he
offered Muhammad Qawi a rematch and, this time, he beat Qawi by a
knockout in only four rounds.
In 1988 was another productive year for
Holyfield; he started by becoming the first universally recognized
World Cruiserweight Champion after defeating the Lineal and WBC Champion
Carlos De Leon at Las Vegas. The fight was stopped after eight rounds.
Heavyweight
Main
articles: Evander Holyfield vs. James Tillis, Evander Holyfield vs
Pinklon Thomas, Michael Dokes vs. Evander Holyfield, Evander Holyfield
vs. Adilson Rodrigues, Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart, and Evander
Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh
After that fight, he announced he was
moving up in weight to pursue he World Heavyweight Championship held
by Tyson. His first fight as a Heavyweight took place on July 16th,
when he beat former Tyson rival James "Quick" Tillis by a knockout
in five, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Tillis had gone the distance with
Tyson). For his third and final bout of 1988, he beat former Heavyweight
Champion Pinklon Thomas, also by knockout, in seven rounds.
Holyfield
began 1989 meeting another former Heavyweight Champion, Michael Dokes.
This fight was named one of the best fights of the 1980s by Ring Magazine,
as best heavyweight bout of the 1980s. Holyfield won by a knockout
in the 10th round, and then he met Brazilian Champion Adilson Rodrigues,
who lasted two rounds. His last fight of the 1980s was against Alex
Stewart, a hard punching fringe contender. Stewart shocked Holyfield
early, with quick, hard punches, but eventually fell in eight.
In 1990,
Holyfield beat Seamus McDonah, knocking him out in four rounds. By
this time, Holyfield had been Ring Magazine's number one contender
for two years and had yet to receive a shot at Tyson's Heavyweight
title.
Undisputed heavyweight champion