Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield 3 // “The Final Chapter“ (Highlights)

Riddick Bowe 240 lbs beat Evander Holyfield 213 lbs by TKO at 0:58 in round 8 of 12 Date: 1995-11-04 Location: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Bowe was a 3-1 favorite. Bowe was the WBO champion, but the title wasn’t on the line. Holyfield would not fight for the WBO title because he thought it would politically hinder his goal of winning back the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. The New York Daily News presented the winner with a championship belt. Bowe had a point deducted in the fifth round for a low blow. In the fifth round, Holyfield appeared to be completely exhausted. He later claimed he was fatigued because he was suffering from Hepatitis A. With about a minute left in the fifth round, HBO commentator George Foreman stood up and called for the fight to be stopped. “This man is going to end up in a pine box,“ Foreman said. “He’s got heart trouble.“ Foreman was referencing Holyfield’s diagnosis from the previous year. In April 1994, following his loss to Michael Moorer, Holyfield was diagnosed with a heart problem and retired. Two months later, he claimed he had been cured by faith healer Benny Hinn. Holyfield was examined by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, who said he had been misdiagnosed and was fit to return to the ring. In the sixth round, a left hook to the chin put Bowe down for the first time in his of career. In the eighth round, Holyfield was dropped with a right. He got up at the count of nine, but was quickly dropped again by two right hands and the referee stopped the fight. It was the first time Holyfield was stopped. Bowe landed 252 of 524 punches (48 percent), and Holyfield connected on 154 of 256 (60 percent). Rock Newman, Bowe’s manager, said this was perhaps the most brutal fight of their trilogy.