Holyfield's career spanned an impressive 27 years. He fought 57 times as a pro, losing only 10 bouts. The "Real Deal" made history as the first boxer to become undisputed champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight classes. He faced and beat some of the biggest names in the sport, including Mike Tyson, Hasim Rahman, Larry Holmes, and Riddick Bowe.
In 2011, Holyfield won his last professional fight against Brian Nielson. But it was a sparring session that same year with a 19-year-old Andy Ruiz Jr. that made him realize it was time to hang up the gloves.
Holyfield shared his experience with the Daily Mail:
"When I sparred that guy Ruiz and when he was 19 years old he was able to tag me, I knew then [it was over]. I don't pass my age range where it no longer makes sense to get hit like that by somebody you think you should be able to beat, because experience and all this, but he had speed and I was losing speed."
The former champ went into more detail about the sparring session in an interview:
"When we were sparring, every day he did the same thing … He was aggressive then. It kind of embarrassed me a little bit. I thought, 'I'm a champ and you chasing me like this?' I learned from it. They say youth is your strength when you're that age, when you get older it's your experience. I was able to do some things that he couldn't do."
Holyfield's decision to retire after this eye-opening experience proved wise. When he came back for an exhibition bout against Vitor Belfort in 2021, at the age of 58, he was stopped in the first round.
As for Andy Ruiz Jr., the young sparring partner who gave Holyfield such a tough time, he went on to have a notable career of his own. In 2016, he narrowly lost to Joseph Parker for the vacant WBO World Heavyweight Title. But his biggest moment came in 2019 when, as a late replacement, he shocked the world by stopping Anthony Joshua in the seventh round to become the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion.
Ruiz lost the rematch to Joshua but has since picked up wins over Chris Arreola and Luis Ortiz. His most recent fight, a draw with Jarrell Miller in October, saw him break his hand early on and many think he was lucky to avoid a loss.
The boxing world recently got news that Ruiz has been given the 'green light' to return to the ring. But many fans are questioning whether he still has the hunger that once impressed a retiring Evander Holyfield.