The legendary Evander Holyfield of boxing receives a statue in the city of Atlanta.
The four time World Heavyweight Champion, Evander Holyfield gets the honor of being immortalized with a statue located at State Farm arena. He is the boxer famously known as the opponent that “Iron” Mike Tyson bit his ear off during a bout in the 1990’s.
However, he is much more accomplished and respected by critics and fans than that infamous moment. Holyfield, 58, was born in Alabama but his family moved to Atlanta in his early years, and he learned to box there. He is the only four-time world heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic medalist. He won the bronze in the light heavyweight division in Los Angeles in 1984.
The Holyfield statue was created by Brian Hanlon, who is the official sculptor of the NBA Hall of Fame. He also crafted the statue of Atlanta Hawks icon Dominique Wilkins that is displayed outside the arena.
Holyfield’s career record stands at 44-10-2.
Evander Holyfield has been retired since 2011. He was suppose to return to the ring on June 5 in an eight-round exhibition against Kevin McBride as reported by Sports Illustrated. However, those plans were postponed to June 19, and now Holyfield is scheduled to meet an opponent yet to be determined on Aug. 14 according to USA Today.
Check out the unveiling of the statue in the video below.
The 9-foot-tall statue was initially expected to go up in front of downtown’s Flatiron Building in early 2018. The statue mysteriously went missing and was nowhere to be seen until now to the public. Check out the drama surrounding it in this news clip below.
