Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer and is widely known by his nickname “The Real Deal”. He was born on October 19, 1962 in Atmore, which is in Alabama city, U.S and faced various ups and downs in his life. So, today we will see how he has become a great personality in his life:

Personal Basic Information

Full Name	Evander Holyfield
Nick Name	The Real Deal and The Warrior
Father’s Name	Isom Coley
Mother’s Name	Annie Laura Holyfield
Date of Birth (Born)	October 19, 1962
Birth Place	Atmore, Alabama, United States
Current Age	Age: 83 years, 4 months, and 28 days as of today. Time left for next birthday: 7 months and 3 days.
Height	6 feet 2 inch (1.89 meters)
Weight	218 pounds (99 kg)
Net worth	Approx. $1 million dollars as of March 2025
Marriage Status	Married
Wife’s Name	Shevon Harris Holyfield
Kids Name	Evander Holyfield Jr., Ewin Ezekiel Holyfield, Elijah Esaias Holyfield, Eleazar Evan “Evan” Holyfield, Elijah Jedidiah Holyfield, Eli Ethan Holyfield, Evette Ashley Holyfield, Ebonne Esheal Holyfield, Emani Winter Holyfield, Eden Eloise Holyfield and Eve Elizabeth Holyfield.
High school	Fulton High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality	American
Zodiac Sign	Libra
Retirement	Retired from professional fight on May 7, 2011 at the age of 48 years and retired from Comeback Exhibition Fight on September 11, 2021 at the age of 58 years.

Evander Holyfield’s Net Worth

Evander Holyfield became a popular personality and earned good money in his life but because of financial mismanagement he faced bankruptcy.

Boxing Career Earnings: In his entire professional career Evander Holyfield has earned $230 million dollars, where he was paid for every fight.
Endorsements and Sponsorships: Evander was also involved in promotions with many known brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike and many more. Through these brands, he earned millions of dollars, which has also contributed a huge amount to his net worth.
Business venture and real estate: in the late 1990s, Evander Holyfield founded a company named Real Deal Records but this venture didn’t achieve much success.
Public Speaking and media: He has also been an active public speaker and spoken at various types of events and he has even appeared on reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars.
Philanthropy: Evander has an organisation in his name called Evander Holyfield Foundation, which focuses on the betterment of children’s education for those who are in need.

Evander Holyfield Early Life and Childhood

Evander Holyfield was born on 19^th of October in 1962, Atmore, Alabama, USA, his father Isom Coley was not present in his life. His mother Annie Laura Holyfield raised nine children alone. When Evander was 4 years old, his family relocated to Bowen Homes Housing Project in Atlanta.

At the age of seven years old, Evander started boxing after his admission at the Warren Memorial Boys Club, where he was coached by Carter Morgan. Ever since he was a child, he was known for his quiet and shy personality.

Education and the Beginning of Sports Career

As a child, Evander used to attend a local elementary and secondary school in Atlanta, Georgia, and from a very young age Evander started balancing between sports and his academics. He completed his high school at Fulton High School located in Atlanta, Georgia.

After training and completing his school, he skipped further education and became a professional boxer and making his debut in 1984.

Professional Career

1984-1989: Evander Holyfield made his professional debut in the year 1984 on 15th of November where he registered win over Lionel Byarm and continued to secure victories in the cruiserweight division and established himself as a top rising star of this division.

He claimed his first WBA cruiserweight title on July 12th, 1986 after defeating Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a 15 round bout, after which he unified the WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles by securing a win over Rickey Parkey by knocking him out in the 3rd third round of the bout on 15th of May 1987, following which in the same year, he defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a rematch by a technical knockout in the 4th round to retain his unified titles.

In the year 1988 he won the bout against Carlos De Leon on 9th April and unified the WBA, WBC, and the IBF titles and became the Undisputed cruiserweight world champion, in the same year he moved up to the heavyweight division and fought against James Tillis on 16th of July and registered a win in the 5th round of the bout and also went on to defeat Michael Dokes by technical knockout in the 10th round on 11th march 1989.

1990-1996: October 25th 1990 was the day when Evander became the undisputed world heavyweight champion after he defeated Buster Douglas by knocking him out in the third round go the bout to claim the WBC, WBA, and the IBF heavyweight titles.

Holyfield defended his heavyweight titles by defeating George Foreman on 19th of April 1991, he also took down Bert Cooper in the seventh round of the bout by a technical knockout and retained his titles on November 23rd 1991.

He lost his Heavyweight titles to Riddick Bowe on 13th November 1992, which he regained after defeating Riddick Bowe in a rematch on November 6th 1993.

Evander announced his retirement on 27th April 1994, after he lost a fight against Michael Moorer on 22nd of April 1994. On may 20th 1995, Holyfield made a comeback into the ring and defeated Ray Mercer.

1996-2001: Holyfield registered a win over Mike Tyson on 9th of November 1996 to claim the WBA heavyweight championship title and also successfully defended the title in a rematch against Tyson on June 28th 1997 where he was bitten by Mike Tyson on his ear.

He unified the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles on 8th November 1997 by defeating Michael Moorer by technical knockout in the 8th round of the bout after which he fought against Lennox Lewis where the bout ended as a draw on 13th of march ,1999.

Later in the year, on November 13th Evander lost his heavyweight titles to Lennox Lewis in a bout where Lewis was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

On august 12th, 2000, Holyfield became the first ever fighter to win the WBA heavyweight title of the fourth time after he defeated John Ruiz by split decision in Las Vegas, later he lost the title to John Ruiz on third of march 2001 when John defeated him by unanimous decision after which the two fought for the third time in a row on 15th of December 2001 where the fight ended in a draw.

2002-2011: On October 13th 2007, Evander lost his WBO heavyweight title and his NBA heavyweight title on 20th of December 2008 to Sultan Ibragimov and Nikolai Valuev respectively after which he made his last professional boxing appearance on 7th may 2011 where he defeated Brian Nielsen by technical knockout in the 10th round.

He officially announced his retirement from professional boxing at the age of 51 in June 2014. Holyfield made a post-retirement appearance for an exhibition match on 11th September 2021 to fight against Vitor Belfort, where he lost by technical knockout in the first round itself.

Achievements / Awards / Medals

In his professional boxing journey Evander Holyfield has a long list of achievements and here are some of them:

International Achievements

1984: Holyfield bagged the bronze medal for boxing in the light heavyweight division at the summer Olympics 1984 (Los Angeles)
1996: By defeating Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Evander claimed the WBA cruiserweight champion title.
1987: He won the IBF cruiserweight champion title after securing a win over Rickey Parkey by a technical knockout in the 3rd round of the bout.
1988: Holyfield became the undisputed world champion of the cruiserweight division after he defeated Carlos De Leon on 9th of April and unified the WBA, WBC, and the IBF cruiserweight championship titles.
1990: After defeating James Douglas by knocking him out in the third round, Evander became the Undisputed world heavyweight champion and now, was the first ever fighter of the three-belt era to be the undisputed world champion in two weight classes.
1993: He regained his WBA and IBF Heavyweight championship title from Riddick Bowe on 6th of November which he lost to Riddick in 1992.
1996: Evander achieved the WBA heavyweight championship title for the third time by defeating Mike Tyson.
2000: After defeating John Ruiz on 12th of august, Evander became the first ever fighter to win the WBA heavyweight championship title for the fourth time.
2017: His Induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame took place on 11th June,2017 along with Marco Antonio Barrera from Mexico, Johnny Tapia from Posthumously and others in the non-participant and observer categories.

National Achievements

1979: Evander finished as the champion in the welterweight division of boxing at the 1979 US National Junior Olympics.
1983: He won the National Golden Gloves Championship in the light heavyweight division.
1984: At the US National Championship, he stood as the runner-up in the lightweight division after he lost the final to Mustafa Johnson. Later in the year, he participated in the 1984 Olympic Trials in the light heavyweight division and qualified for the 1984 Olympic Games.

Married Life and Family

1^st Marriage: Evander’s first marriage was to Paulette Bowen, where they got married on 17^th of May, 1985, the two met each other while they were in high school. She was there with Evander since the start of their career but due to personal conflicts and differences, the two of them drifted apart and eventually divorced each other in 1991. They had three children together.

Evander Holyfield Jr.: He was born on 3^rd of April in 1984 and works as an actor and musician.
Evette Ashley Holyfield: She was born on 3 September, 1985 and works as a stylist and a fashion designer.
Ebonne Esheal Holyfield: She was born in 1989 and likes to keep her life private.

2^nd Marriage: Evander’s second marriage was to Dr. Janice Itson. They were introduced to each other through a friend, while they were attending a charity event in Atlanta. They got married on 4^th of October, 1996 and have a son together but because of Evander’s extramarital affairs and domestic abuse, Janice decided to divorce him, they had divorce in July of 2000.

Elijah Esaias Holyfield: He was born 30^th of November in 1997 and he has played for the Philadelphia Eagles as running back.

3^rd Marriage: Evander Holyfield had his third marriage with Candi Calvana Smith, the two of them had their first encounter at a boxing event in the 200s in Atlanta. They got married on 3^rd of July in 2003 but after 9 years together, Candi asked for a divorce because of domestic abuse and financial issues. They had 2 children together.

Eli Ethan Holyfield: He was born on 5^th of February in 2004 and wishes to become a football player.
Eve Elizabeth Holyfield: She was born on 14^th of May in 2005 and does not appear publicly.

4^th Marriage: Evander Holyfield had his 4^th to Shevon Harris Holyfield, the two of them were seeing each other while he was married and after Evander’s 3^rd divorce, they started dating publicly and on 26^th of March, 2022, they got married. Shevon is a practitioner of Law and she also works as children’s advocate in Litigation Department at Lewis Rice, a St. Louis-based law firm. They have a child together.

Evin Holyfield: He was born on 23^rd of August, 1997 and is a professional boxer.

Evander Holyfield has children outside of marriage:

Eleazar Evan “Evan” Holyfield: He was born on 23^rd of October in 1997 from Toi Irvin and is a professional boxer.
Elijah Jedidiah Holyfield: He was born on 12^th of September in 1998 from Tamie Pettaway.
Eden Eloise Holyfield: She was born in 1995 from Tamie Pettaway and likes to keep her life private.
Emani Winter Holyfield: She was born in the year 1993 and her mother’s name is not known.