It was the eleventh of March, 1989. Evander Holyfield had unified the cruiserweight division and moved up to heavyweight, to prove his case as a challenger to the division's king. He was matched against Michael Dokes, following his win over Pinklon Thomas. The fight was an action-packed Las Vegas night displaying the skills and guts of both fighters. But whoever started it, it got dirty, and Evander Holyfield knew how to win when things got dirty.
Here we have a beautiful, ugly, completely illegal, very damaging combination. It's the dirty 1-2 (headbutt, low blow). Holyfield, later on, with a much more legal maneuver, would score a TKO over Dokes. He'd splatter Buster Douglas for the heavyweight title the following calendar year. Unlike a typical fighter today, he didn't go from Dokes to a title shot. In the brief time between Dokes and Douglas, he'd knockout all three of Adilson Rodrigues, Alex Stewart and Seamus McDonagh. You don't see schedules like this for heavyweight contenders anymore. That was a risky, grueling trip to the top for Evander Holyfield, especially considering most champions from lower divisions can piggyback on their lower division accomplishments when they move up in weight.
Work that bag,
Basement Gym Boxing
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