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The next chapter of Evander Holyfield's (40-8-2, 26 KOs) career was decided at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, before a crowd of thousands that came out to see the aging warrior take on a major test in Fres Oquendo (26-4, 16 KOs).
Holyfield had enough left in the tank to pull out a close unanimous decision over Oquendo. The fight was fought at a close pace, and many ringside observers, including the Fox Sports Net commentators, thought Oquendo had won the contest by very close margins.
The deciding factor in the scoring was the first round that saw Holyfield score a knockdown after catching Oquendo with a hard right hand. Oquendo seemed to immediately work his way back into the fight by outboxing Holyfield for a majority of the rounds. The problem is that several rounds of the fight were fought at a slow pace, which made them seem closer to the judges than they actually were.
Regardless of the closeness of the fight, Holyfield still put on a better performance than several of his last fights. Few gave Holyfield a shot to win a decision against the younger Oquendo, but once again he proves the critics wrong. The scores were 116-111, 114-113 and 114-113, all for Holyfield.
Next stop for Holyfield - a title shot conquest.
It's almost unimaginable to think of a fighter lasting in the sport as long as Evander Holyfield. He made his debut on November 15, 1984 in New York's Madison Square Garden, scoring a six-round decision over Lionel Bynarm.
On July 12, 1986, Holyfield won his first world title when he snatched the WBA cruiserweight title by way of a split-decision verdict over Dwight Muhammad Qawi at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The bout with Qawi is still regarded as one of greatest cruiserweights bouts in the history of the boxing. Less than a year later, he added the IBF version of the cruiserweight title when he met Ricky Parkey in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and stopped him within 3 rounds. [details]
Holyfield had enough left in the tank to pull out a close unanimous decision over Oquendo. The fight was fought at a close pace, and many ringside observers, including the Fox Sports Net commentators, thought Oquendo had won the contest by very close margins.
The deciding factor in the scoring was the first round that saw Holyfield score a knockdown after catching Oquendo with a hard right hand. Oquendo seemed to immediately work his way back into the fight by outboxing Holyfield for a majority of the rounds. The problem is that several rounds of the fight were fought at a slow pace, which made them seem closer to the judges than they actually were.
Regardless of the closeness of the fight, Holyfield still put on a better performance than several of his last fights. Few gave Holyfield a shot to win a decision against the younger Oquendo, but once again he proves the critics wrong. The scores were 116-111, 114-113 and 114-113, all for Holyfield.
Next stop for Holyfield - a title shot conquest.
It's almost unimaginable to think of a fighter lasting in the sport as long as Evander Holyfield. He made his debut on November 15, 1984 in New York's Madison Square Garden, scoring a six-round decision over Lionel Bynarm.
On July 12, 1986, Holyfield won his first world title when he snatched the WBA cruiserweight title by way of a split-decision verdict over Dwight Muhammad Qawi at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The bout with Qawi is still regarded as one of greatest cruiserweights bouts in the history of the boxing. Less than a year later, he added the IBF version of the cruiserweight title when he met Ricky Parkey in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and stopped him within 3 rounds. [details]