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| Date | May 20, 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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]
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]
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]
Confirmed bouts: [10]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 200+ lb | Evander Holyfield | def. | Ray Mercer | UD | 10/10 | ||
| Middleweight | 160 lb | Héctor Camacho (c) | def. | Homer Gibbins | UD | 12/12 | Note 1 | |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lb | David Tua | def. | Dan Murphy | TKO | 5/10 | ||
| Welterweight | 147 lb | Sal Lopez | def | Jermal Corbin | RTD | 4/8 | ||
| Heavyweight | 200+ lb | Michael Grant | def | Lou Turchiarelli | TKO | 1/8 |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |
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.
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