Evander Holyfield: Qawi Was By Far The Toughest Fight, By Far

CANASTOTA, N.Y. - Evander Holyfield, boxing's only four-time world heavyweight champion, was inducted Sunday into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and "The Real Deal" delivered one more time.

The youngest of nine children, Holyfield spent nearly his entire speech crediting his mother and his siblings for much of his success.

"This Hall of Fame thing is all about the help I got from someone else," Holyfield said. "My mom wouldn't let me quit."

Holyfield's impressive career spanned more than three decades - 160 wins as an amateur, 44 more as a pro - and included undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight titles, and two memorable fights against Mike Tyson and another three against Riddick Bowe.

Besides Bowe and Tyson, Holyfield fought a who's who of heavyweights including Lennox Lewis (twice), Buster Douglas, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Michael Moorer (twice), Ray Mercer, Michael Dokes, Chris Byrd, James Toney, John Ruiz (three times) and Hasim Rahman.

But he says the first fight with Dwight Muhammad Qawi, over fifteen rounds in July of 1986, was the toughest fight of his pro career. 

"Qawi was by far the toughest fight. By far," Holyfield said to ESPN. "No fighter ever pushed me to that limit. Oh my, that was a very tough fight. Condition-wise, I knew I could do it."

"Those three fights with Bowe, they were outstanding fights. The first fight humbled me a little bit. I felt I could beat anyone with two hands, but Bowe proved if you don't have a strategy you're not going to beat a guy like him. He had a lot of talent.

"I beat him the second fight but I truly believe the first fight, even though I lost, gave me respect. A lot of people knew I could really fight after that one. They said, 'Doggone, look at this guy. Look how he fought that big guy.' Look at our size. This boy was knocking the daylights out of me and we stood toe to toe. After that I had respect because after that fight a lot of people didn't want to fight me."

Also inducted were: three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico; the late super flyweight champion Johnny Tapia; Australian trainer Johnny Lewis; judge Jerry Roth; journalist-broadcaster Steve Farhood; broadcaster Barry Tompkins; and Eddie Booker and ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr., also honored posthumously.