Evander Holyfield vs. Ray Mercer

Last updated
The Warrior Returns
Holyfield vs Mercer.jpg
DateMay 20, 1995
Venue Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Tale of the tape
Boxer Flag of the United States.svg Evander Holyfield Flag of the United States.svg Ray Mercer
Nickname "The Real Deal" "Merciless"
Hometown Atlanta, Georgia Union City, New Jersey
Purse $2,000,000 $250,000
Pre-fight record 30–2 (22 KO) 23–2–1 (16 KO)
Age 32 years, 7 months 34 years, 1 month
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight209+34 lb (95 kg) 224 lb (102 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition 2-division undisputed world champion Former WBO heavyweight titleholder
Result
Holyfield defeats Mercer by unanimous decision (97–92, 96–93, 95–94)

Evander Holyfield vs. Ray Mercer , billed as "The Warrior Returns" was a professional boxing match contested on May 20, 1995. [1]

Contents

Background

Evander Holyfield's second heavyweight championship reign had ended after only 5 months following a loss to Michael Moorer in his first defense. Holyfield was hospitalized after the fight and it was determined that he had a previously undetected heart ailment and was advised to retire immediately, which he would officially announce only four days after the Moorer fight. [2] In June Holyfield attended one of televangelist and "faith healer" Benny Hinn's healing sessions. After being touched by Hinn, Holyfield claimed he felt a "warm feeling" go through his body and afterwards proclaimed he was "healed" of his heart ailment and was ready to resume his boxing career. [3] Holyfield initially failed to get medical clearance after a New York cardiologist determined that his heart ailment had not healed sufficiently enough to allow Holyfield to continue boxing in September. [4] However, two months later, the Mayo Clinic did medically clear Holyfield with a spokesman for the clinic stating that Holyfield was in "excellent health." [5] As the Nevada Athletic Commission had medically suspended Holyfield's boxing license, the five-person committee would have to vote to reinstate Holyfield and in February 1995 the commission would vote 4–1 to lift Holyfield's ban. [6] The following month, Holyfield would announce his comeback bout would be against former WBO heavyweight champion Ray Mercer. [7]

The fight

In a hard fought affair, Holyfield rebounded from a deep cut over his right eye to earn a unanimous decision victory. Mercer opened the cut during the sixth round. The cut plagued Holyfield to the point that the referee stopped the fight in the eighth to allow the ringside physician to check on the cut. After the fight resume Mercer went on the attack and even began showboating by winding up his left hand before throwing his right. Holyfield would come back with a barrage of punches that sent Mercer to his knees for the first and only knockdown of the fight and the first knockdown of Mercer's professional career. Holyfield would control the remainder of the fight and won all three scorecards with scores of 97–92, 96–93 and 95–94. [8]

Holyfield chose not to have a traditional cut-man in his corner instead having his head trainer Don Turner handle the duties. This would almost backfire for Holyfield as the deep cut that he received in the sixth round nearly cost him a victory. Said the ringside physician Dr. Frank Doggett "I thought his cut man did a terrible job. A good cut man could stop that. If it got any worse I would have stopped it." [9]

Fight card

Confirmed bouts: [10]

Weight ClassWeightvs.MethodRoundTimeNotes
Heavyweight200+ lb Evander Holyfield def. Ray Mercer UD10/10
Middleweight160 lb Héctor Camacho (c)def.Homer GibbinsUD12/12 Note 1
Heavyweight200+ lb David Tua def.Dan MurphyTKO5/10
Welterweight147 lbSal LopezdefJermal CorbinRTD4/8
Heavyweight200+ lb Michael Grant defLou TurchiarelliTKO1/8

^Note 1 For IBC Middleweight title

Broadcasting

CountryBroadcaster
Flag of the United States.svg  United States HBO

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield</span> American boxer (born 1962)

Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and was the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the "three belt era", a feat later surpassed by Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk, who became two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.

Bertram Cooper, nicknamed Smokin' Bert Cooper, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2012. He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray Mercer, and Corrie Sanders, among others. Cooper challenged three times for a world title, and was known for being in several wild fights, including his world title bouts with Holyfield and Moorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III</span> 1995 boxing match

Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III, billed as "The Final Chapter", was a professional boxing match contested on November 4, 1995. The non-title match marked the third and final fight in the Bowe–Holyfield trilogy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer</span> Boxing competition

Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer was a professional boxing match contested on April 22, 1994, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman</span> 1994 professional boxing match

Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, billed as One for the Ages, was a professional boxing match contested on November 5, 1994 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II</span> Boxing competition

Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II was a professional boxing match contested November 8, 1997 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Tyson vs. Alex Stewart</span> Boxing competition

Mike Tyson vs. Alex Stewart, billed as The Hard Way Back, was a professional boxing match contested on December 8, 1990. It was Tyson's second fight since losing the undisputed world heavyweight championship earlier in the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes</span> Boxing competition

Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes, billed as "Class of Champions", was a professional boxing match contested on June 19, 1992, for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes</span> 1993 boxing match

Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, billed as The Homecoming, was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1993 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships. The fight emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González</span> 1995 boxing match

Riddick Bowe vs. Jorge Luis González, billed as "Mortal Enemies", was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 1995 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison</span> Boxing competition

Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as "Laying It All on the Line", was a professional boxing match contested on October 7, 1995 for the IBC heavyweight championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennox Lewis vs. Ray Mercer</span> Boxing competition

Lennox Lewis vs. Ray Mercer, billed as "One Big Night", was a professional boxing match contested on May 10, 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison</span> Boxing competition

Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as "Test of Courage", was a professional boxing match contested on October 18, 1991 for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes</span> Boxing competition

Ray Mercer vs. Larry Holmes, billed as The Last Stand, was a professional boxing match contested on February 7, 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen</span> Boxing competition

Mike Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen was a professional boxing match contested on 13 October 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart</span>

Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart, billed as "Undefeated" was a professional boxing match contested on November 4, 1989 for the WBC continental Americas heavyweight title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh</span>

Evander Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh was a professional boxing match contested on June 1, 1990 for the WBC continental Americas heavyweight title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart II</span> Boxing match

Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart II, billed as "Only the Strong Survive" was a professional boxing match contested on June 26, 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. Hasim Rahman</span>

Evander Holyfield vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "The Royal Comeback", was a professional boxing match contested on June 1, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evander Holyfield vs. James Toney</span> 2003 boxing match

Evander Holyfield vs. James Toney, billed as "The War on October 4", was a professional boxing match contested on October 4, 2003.

References

  1. "Evander Holyfield vs. Ray Mercer". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  2. Holyfield Ends Boxing Career, Washington Post article, 1994-04-27, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  3. Holyfield "Healed" for Return, NY Times article, 1994-06-14, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  4. Holyfield Fails to Get Medical Clearance, NY Times article, 1994-09-15, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  5. Holyfield Receives Clearance to Fight, NY Times article, 1994-11-24, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  6. Holyfield Ban Lifted, NY Times article, 1995-02-25, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  7. Holyfield Gets Clearance to Fight Mercer in Jersey, Chicago Tribune article, 1995-03-07, Retrieved on 2020-03-30
  8. Holyfield makes triumphant return, UPI article, 1995-05-21 Retrieved on 2020-03-31
  9. Holyfield Begins Comeback With Unanimous Decision Over Mercer, NY Times article, 1995-05-21, Retrieved on 2020-03-31
  10. "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Evander Holyfield's bouts
20 May 1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by Ray Mercer's bouts
20 May 1995
Succeeded by