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bronze medalist
Evander Holyfield began his pro career fighting in the Light Heavyweight division before setting himself the goal of unifying the Cruiserweight division as a prelude to becoming a Heavyweight. He was attempting to become the first boxer from the 1984 Olympic boxing team to win a world
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in March 1983 in a bout for the
Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship, Dwight Muhammad Qawi had been set for a rematch with Spinks in September 1984; however, Qawi was injured three weeks before the fight and had to pull out. He then decided to move up to the new Cruiserweight division and in
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and Neffie
Quintana scored the bout for Holyfield 144–140 & 147–138, while the third judge Gordon Volkman scored it for Qawi 143–141 giving Holyfield a split decision victory and his first world title The bout would be named as the best cruiserweight fight of the 1980s by
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as the best
Cruiserweight fight of all times, was so tough for Holyfield that he declared to the same magazine, years later, that he was about to quit during it.
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in three rounds before easily beating
Muhammad Qawi in a rematch in December 1987. He would then become the first Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion by stopping
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Qawi would spend most of the rest of his career as a cruiserweight and would have one more unsuccessful bid to reclaim a world title finally retiring in 1999.
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There were no knockdowns, but the fight was close and competitive with
Holyfield outworking and outlanding Qawi. Two judges,
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to win the WBA cruiserweight title. After making one successful defence against former
Undisputed Heavyweight Champion
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545:"Evander Holyfield Vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi: the cruiserweight division's Thrilla (in Atlanta!) — Boxing News 24/7"
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https://www.ringtv.com/641641-on-this-day-evander-holyfield-defeats-dwight-muhammad-qawi-in-brutal-firefight/
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531:"On This Day: Evander Holyfield wins first world title against Dwight Muhammad Qawi - Boxing News"
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234:" was a professional boxing match contested on July 12, 1986 for the
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461:"Evander Holyfield vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi (1st meeting) - BoxRec"
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as well as "One of the last great fifteen round title bouts".
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the following April and quickly moved up to heavyweight.
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Holyfield defeated
Muhammad Qawi via Split Decision
263:(brother of Michael) he agreed to face Holyfield.
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1327:July 1986 sports events in the United States
1337:Boxing matches involving Evander Holyfield
1178:Dwight Muhammad Qawi vs. Evander Holyfield
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965:
657:
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1322:1986 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
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1193:Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor
1168:Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard II
960:
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638:
479:"HOLYFIELD RETAINS TITLE ON KNOCKOUT"
938:Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing
505:"HOLYFIELD CAPTURES TITLE FROM QAWI"
429:ABC aired the event live as part of
1173:Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
1093:Muhammad Ali vs. Cleveland Williams
13:
1208:Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe
1088:Muhammad Ali vs. Karl Mildenberger
290:The fight, which is considered by
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238:Junior Heavyweight championship.
143:5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
1113:Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson
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389:
369:
349:
92:
82:
25:
1288:ABC Wide World of Sports Boxing
1188:Michael Spinks vs. Gerry Cooney
1133:Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II
1078:Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo
332:
201:No. 1 Ranked Junior Heavyweight
64:Junior Heavyweight Championship
1203:Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock
1198:Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes
1123:Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman
1098:Muhammad Ali vs. Ernie Terrell
700:Holyfield vs. Muhammad Qawi II
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551:
537:
523:
497:
471:
453:
1:
1183:Mike Tyson vs. Marvis Frazier
1148:Muhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner
1138:George Foreman vs. Ken Norton
1103:Muhammad Ali vs. Jerry Quarry
1083:Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper
1073:Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston
932:Holyfield's Real Deal Records
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302:Holyfield would go unify the
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342:
339:
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297:
273:
7:
1158:Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner
1128:Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton
1118:Muhammad Ali vs. Bob Foster
680:Muhammad Qawi vs. Holyfield
194:Junior Heavyweight Champion
10:
1363:
1042:The Wednesday Night Fights
432:ABC's Wide World of Sports
1332:Boxing matches in Atlanta
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1216:
1153:Muhammad Ali vs. Ron Lyle
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255:July 1985 he knocked out
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33:
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1143:The Rumble in the Jungle
1012:Premier Boxing Champions
765:Holyfield vs. Stewart II
171:186 lb (84 kg)
168:190 lb (86 kg)
860:Ibragimov vs. Holyfield
805:Holyfield vs. Moorer II
725:Holyfield vs. Rodrigues
310:titles by knocking out
835:Ruiz vs. Holyfield III
820:Holyfield vs. Lewis II
800:Holyfield vs. Tyson II
785:Bowe vs. Holyfield III
735:Holyfield vs. McDonagh
604:vs. Narcisco Maldonado
160: in (189 cm)
118:Lindenwold, New Jersey
870:Holyfield vs. Belfort
830:Holyfield vs. Ruiz II
770:Bowe vs. Holyfield II
745:Holyfield vs. Foreman
740:Douglas vs. Holyfield
730:Holyfield vs. Stewart
705:Holyfield vs. De León
685:Holyfield vs. Tillman
1108:Fight of the Century
1049:Wide World of Sports
865:Valuev vs. Holyfield
855:Holyfield vs. Donald
840:Holyfield vs. Rahman
780:Holyfield vs. Mercer
775:Holyfield vs. Moorer
755:Holyfield vs. Holmes
750:Holyfield vs. Cooper
715:Holyfield vs. Thomas
710:Holyfield vs. Tillis
690:Holyfield vs. Parkey
594:Dwight Muhammad Qawi
223:Dwight Muhammad Qawi
88:Dwight Muhammad Qawi
57:Title(s) on the line
850:Holyfield vs. Toney
815:Holyfield vs. Lewis
795:Tyson vs. Holyfield
720:Dokes vs. Holyfield
695:Hoyfield vs. Ocasio
547:. 6 September 2016.
21:
845:Byrd vs. Holyfield
825:Holyfield vs. Ruiz
810:Holyfield vs. Bean
790:Holyfield vs. Czyz
760:Holyfield vs. Bowe
485:. 15 February 1987
19:
16:Boxing competition
1304:
1303:
1163:Thrilla in Manila
1021:Fight of the Week
954:
953:
666:Evander Holyfield
633:
632:
628:vs. Mike Brothers
626:Succeeded by
618:Evander Holyfield
602:Succeeded by
427:
426:
329:Confirmed bouts:
227:Evander Holyfield
219:
218:
205:
204:
98:Evander Holyfield
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997:Related programs
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610:Preceded by
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570:"BoxRec - event"
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129:Pre-fight record
123:Atlanta, Georgia
106:"Camden Buzzsaw"
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69:Tale of the tape
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50:Atlanta, Georgia
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1028:Olympics on ABC
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911:Emanuel Steward
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533:. 12 July 2014.
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280:Harold Lederman
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109:"The Real Deal"
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1317:1986 in boxing
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1263:
1261:Chris Schenkel
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1055:List of events
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612:vs. Terry Mims
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511:. 13 July 1986
509:New York Times
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483:New York Times
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397:United Kingdom
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316:Carlos de León
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252:Michael Spinks
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1280:Miscellaneous
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1066:Notable bouts
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989:Boxing on ABC
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623:12 July 1986
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599:12 July 1986
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572:. BoxRec.com.
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312:Rickey Parkey
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292:Ring Magazine
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285:Ring Magazine
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230:, billed as "
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46:Omni Coliseum
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37:July 12, 1986
36:
32:
28:
23:
1293:
1286:
1256:Jerry Quarry
1236:Dan Dierdorf
1226:Don Chevrier
1177:
1047:
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1034:Commentators
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945:Raging Bully
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513:. Retrieved
508:
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487:. Retrieved
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430:
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343:Broadcaster
333:Broadcasting
328:
320:
301:
289:
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267:1984 Olympic
265:
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231:
221:
220:
1271:Alex Wallau
1266:Al Trautwig
1251:Al Michaels
1246:Jim Lampley
1218:Key figures
587:Leon Spinks
441:Alex Wallau
437:Al Trautwig
377:Philippines
261:Leon Spinks
232:Pandemonium
187:Recognition
20:Pandemonium
1311:Categories
906:Don Turner
465:boxrec.com
447:References
257:Piet Crous
246:After his
242:Background
146:6 ft
620:'s bouts
596:'s bouts
325:Undercard
298:Aftermath
274:The fight
901:Lou Duva
891:Don King
362:Televisa
340:Country
182:Orthodox
179:Orthodox
114:Hometown
103:Nickname
515:9 April
489:9 April
435:, with
270:title.
155:⁄
673:Fights
414:
394:
374:
357:Mexico
354:
306:&
248:defeat
210:Result
165:Weight
140:Height
132:26–2–1
925:Other
382:PTV 4
176:Style
78:Boxer
42:Venue
879:Team
585:vs.
517:2018
491:2018
439:and
225:vs.
135:11–0
34:Date
422:ABC
402:ITV
308:IBF
304:WBA
250:by
236:WBA
198:WBA
191:WBA
62:WBA
1313::
507:.
481:.
463:.
48:,
980:e
973:t
966:v
658:e
651:t
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519:.
493:.
467:.
157:2
153:1
150:+
148:2
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