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| Date | June 1, 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holyfield won by 4th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Evander Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh was a professional boxing match contested on June 1, 1990 for the WBC continental Americas heavyweight title.
As 1989 came to an end, Evander Holyfield was the number-one ranked heavyweight contender after going 5–0 and winning each fight via stoppage. In January 1990, after over a year of speculation, Holyfield had finally secured a heavyweight title match against undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. [1] The fight was scheduled for June 18, but Tyson would first have to get past James "Buster" Douglas, whom he was to face in Tokyo on February 11. Holyfield would make the trip to Japan see his would-be opponent up close, but in a shocking upset Douglas would defeat Tyson by 10th-round knockout, effectively cancelling the planned Tyson–Holyfield bout. [2] Tyson and promoter Don King pushed for an immediate rematch, [3] but Douglas refused and instead chose to face Holyfield. [4] However, with the Douglas–Holyfield bout set for October 1990 and Holyfield having not fought since November 1989, it was announced that Holyfield would face Seamus McDonagh in what was to be a "tuneup" prior to facing Douglas. [5] McDonagh was 19–1–1 in 20 professional fights and at the time of his fight with Holyfield, was an English Literature major at St. John's University. Though he was a sizable underdog, McDonagh used Douglas' defeat of Tyson as inspiration that he too could pull off an upset, stating "What Buster Douglas did to Mike Tyson excites me and gives me confidence. I think I can do it here." whilst also claiming that he had "more power than Holyfield's last two opponents (Adílson Rodrigues and Alex Stewart) and I have speed." [6]
As the fight round began, McDonagh charged toward Holyfield and backed him into a corner, causing Holyfield to respond by tackling McDonagh to the canvas. McDonagh would continue to be aggressive, but a sharp left uppercut sent McDonagh down. McDonagh was able to continue and threw a left hook that missed Holyfield, who again tackled McDonagh to the canvas. With 30 seconds left in round one, Holyfield countered a McDonagh left with a right that sent McDonagh down for a second official knockdown. With the three-knockdown rule in effect, Holyfield would attack an exhausted McDonagh with 15 seconds remaining, though McDonagh was able to survive after clinching Holyfield within the rounds final five seconds. Holyfield would continue to wear down McDonagh in rounds two and three before ending the fight 44 second into round four. The end came as the two fighters were exchanging punches before Holyfield landed a left hook that sent McDonagh down through the ropes. McDonagh would get back up at the referee's count of nine, but as he was clearly hurt, Joe Cortez stopped the fight, giving Holyfield the TKO victory. [7]
Confirmed bouts: [8]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | Showtime |
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.
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Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defence of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.
Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas, billed as Tyson is Back!, was a professional boxing match that occurred at the Tokyo Dome on February 11, 1990. The then-undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson lost by knockout to the 42-1 underdog Douglas. The fight is widely regarded as the biggest upset in sports history.
Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as The Moment of Truth, was a professional boxing match contested on October 25, 1990, for the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships. The bout took place at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada, USA and saw Douglas making the first defense of the titles he won from Mike Tyson in February 1990.
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Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe was a professional boxing match that took place on November 13, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was contested for the undisputed world heavyweight championship, which consisted of the WBA, WBC, and IBF championships.
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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.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as Fight of the Year, was a professional boxing match contested on March 18, 1991 at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada. At the time the two fighters were the top two ranked contenders for the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championships that were at the time held by Evander Holyfield. The bout was a twelve-round championship eliminator fight, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger to Holyfield's crown.
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Evander Holyfield vs. Adílson Rodrigues was a professional boxing match contested on July 15, 1989 for the WBC continental Americas heavyweight title.
