"Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and remains the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes. Nicknamed ""The Real Deal"", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992; the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994 and between 1996 and 1999; and the WBA title for"
"Liz Jones. However, as part of the Launch Night twist, they were then released from each other but automatically faced the first eviction as a pair. He finished in second place behind Jim Davidson in the final on Day 27. Evander Holyfield is a retired American professional boxer. He is a former Undisputed World Champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname ""The Real Deal"". He also represented the U.S. in the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 Summer Olympics, winning silver and bronze medals respectively. He entered the house on Day 1, handcuffed to"
"Superstar Billy Graham Eldridge Wayne Coleman (born June 7, 1943) is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends Contract. An iconic figure in professional wrestling, he worked under the ring name ""Superstar"" Billy Graham and gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977–1978. As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is most remembered for revolutionizing the interview and physique aspects of the professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style. Some of his wrestling protégés include Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, and"
"August 2, 2016, Graham was hospitalized while undergoing a medical procedure due to internal bleeding; he underwent the surgery on August 3 to identify the cause of the issues. Superstar Billy Graham Eldridge Wayne Coleman (born June 7, 1943) is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends Contract. An iconic figure in professional wrestling, he worked under the ring name ""Superstar"" Billy Graham and gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977–1978. As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is most remembered"
"Jack Johnson (boxer) John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the Galveston Giant, was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). Among the period's most dominant champions, Johnson remains a boxing legend, with his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries dubbed the ""fight of the century"". According to filmmaker Ken Burns, ""for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth"". Transcending boxing, he became part of the culture and the history of"
"Wahoo McDaniel Edward McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was a Choctaw-Chickasaw Native American who achieved fame as a professional American football player and later as a professional wrestler. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times. McDaniel was a major star in prominent National Wrestling Alliance affiliated promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling (which would eventually be renamed World Class Championship Wrestling) and Jim Crockett Promotions (which would ultimately become WCW after being purchased by media mogul Ted Turner in 1988). Wahoo was"
"including ""a.k.a. Cassius Clay"", ""Jack Johnson"", ""The Heavyweight Champions"" and ""Legendary Champions""; the latter three were nominated for Academy Awards. In 1978 Jacobs and Cayton bought the management contract of world light-welterweight champion Wilfred Benítez from Benitez' father for $75,000 and guided him to two more championships and over $6.5 million in purses. The partnership ended in December 1983, when Benitez bought out his contract in order to manage himself. In 1984 they signed the 18-year-old Mike Tyson, who was being trained by Jacobs' old friend D'Amato, and oversaw his rise to become undisputed world heavyweight champion; Jacobs became a"
"Jones lost a considerable amount of weight and took a job at the ""New York Daily News"". Efraim died in Antigua on October 26, 2008, following a stroke suffered two days earlier. S.D. Jones Conrad Efraim (March 30, 1945 – October 26, 2008) was a professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Special Delivery Jones or S.D. Jones (sometimes referred to as S.D. Special Delivery Jones) from his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He also wrestled in Jim Crockett Promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and he won the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship three times."
"Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. Nicknamed ""The Greatest"", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At age 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, then turned professional later"
"the comics pages with real-life American icons like John F. Kennedy, Steve Allen, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Allen Funt, Don Rickles, and Pat Boone. He had even previously gone up against a real-life athlete, professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. The book suffered numerous delays, going from an original publication date of fall 1977 to spring 1978. By the time the book was published, Ali was no longer World Heavyweight Champion, having been dethroned by Leon Spinks in February 1978. (Ali won back the title later that September.) In December 2009, DC Comics announced it would publish two hardcover reprint editions of"
"WBC Super Welterweight (154 lb) title from boxing legend and three-time world champion Wilfred Benítez (44-1-1) in New Orleans in December 1982, and defended that title against European Champion Luigi Minchillo (42-1) (W 12), Roberto Durán (TKO 2), no.1 contender Fred Hutchings (29-1) (KO 3) and #1 contender Mark Medal (26-2) (TKO 8). During his reign at this weight, the 2 round destruction of the legendary Roberto Durán, in which he became the first boxer to KO Durán, is seen as his pinnacle achievement, earning him his second Ring Magazine ""Fighter of the Year"" award in 1984. While remaining super-welterweight"
"Big Van Vader Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional football player. He performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) during the 1990s and 2000s. White, who gained legendary status in Japan, is widely regarded as one of the greatest superheavyweight wrestlers ever. White performed as a monstrous wrestler capable of aerial maneuvers such as the Vadersault, which was voted as the ""Best Wrestling"
"Lewis to the mat. Lewis was unable to get back to his feet and Rahman was announced the winner by knockout, becoming the new Heavyweight Champion in the process. Following his upset victory, Rahman became an overnight sensation. Less than a month after his victory, Rahman signed a $5 million deal with influential promoter Don King. Shortly before joining King's stable, cable giants HBO and Showtime entered into negotiations with Rahman in an attempt to get exclusive rights to air his fights. Showtime offered Rahman an estimated $19.25 million to sign with them and face their premier fighter Mike Tyson"
"was ranked as the top flyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006. Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer and world boxing champion. Often regarded as the greatest British fighter of all time, he was the first official world flyweight champion and was rated by American boxing writer Nat Fleischer, as well as many other professionals and fans including former boxer, trainer, manager and promoter, Charley 'Broadway' Rose, as ""the Greatest Flyweight Boxer Ever"". Wilde earned various nicknames such as, ""The Mighty Atom,"" ""Ghost with the"
"title ""World Champion Wrestler"", and was regarded as the ""greatest athlete in the world"", and ""The Strong Man of the Age"". He was so well known that ""heavy artillery shells in the First World War were nicknamed 'Donald Dinnies'."" His documented achievements worldwide consist of ""2,000 hammer throwing contests, over 2,000 wrestling matches, 200 weightlifting contests, and about 500 running and hurdle events. He also made a good living at all this, earning at least £25,000 in his career, a sum that would be worth about US $2.5 million today. And to this day his image continues to endorse commercial"
"Ray Mendoza José Díaz Velázquez (July 6, 1929 – April 16, 2003) was a Mexican ""Luchador"", or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time World Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first Mexican to hold the championship. In 1975, Diaz helped establish Universal Wrestling Association with Francisco Flores and Benjamín Mora. During his many title reigns, Diaz faced many present or future stars, such as Gran Hamada, Killer Kowalski, John Tolos, El Solitario, Fishman, René Guajardo, Gory Guerrero, El Santo, and"
"Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. ""Sports Illustrated"" magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight (Ali had not yet changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. The first bout was held in February 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay (later Ali) won when Liston gave up at the opening of the seventh round (after being clearly dominated in the sixth). Their second fight was"
"the belt on March 5, 1965. He held it until February 6, 1967 when he lost to Muhammad Ali. During this time, most in the boxing world continued to recognize Ali as the legitimate champion, since he had not lost his championship in a boxing match. The WBA's rival, the World Boxing Council, had also continued to recognize Ali as champion. During his reign as WBA Champion, Terrell defended the title twice, beating Doug Jones and George Chuvalo. In February 1967, Ali and Terrell met to end the debate about who was the legitimate heavyweight champion. Before the bout, Terrell"
"title against Big Show, Orton was confronted by World Heavyweight Champion and long-time rival John Cena. The following night on ""Raw"", Cena suggested that there should only be ""one champion"" in WWE, so Triple H stated there would be a unification match at the pay-per-view. On December 15, Orton defeated Cena at TLC to unify both titles, and becoming the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion as well as officially being recognized as the final World Heavyweight Champion. Orton retained the title at the Royal Rumble against Cena after interference by The Wyatt Family. On February 23 at Elimination Chamber, Orton"
"for the world heavyweight title (shared with Joe Louis), as well as winning 14 unified title bouts (shared with former welterweight champion José Napoles), were unbeaten for 35 years. Ali is the only boxer to be named ""The Ring"" magazine Fighter of the Year six times. He has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He was also ranked as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by ""Sports Illustrated"", the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC, and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN ""SportsCentury"". Nicknamed ""The Greatest"", he was involved in"
"Luger and Big Bubba Rogers during ""Nitro""'s main event. He then made a challenge to then reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion, The Giant, for Hog Wild in August. At Hog Wild, the newly rechristened ""Hollywood"" Hulk Hogan (often shortened to Hollywood Hogan) won the match after knocking The Giant out with his title belt. After the match, Hogan rechristened the Big Gold Belt as the nWo World Heavyweight Championship by spray-painting the group acronym in capital letters across the faceplate. Nearly two weeks after Hog Wild, Ted DiBiase made his WCW debut and declared himself the financier and spokesperson of"
"from the fight. Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston The two fights between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for boxing's World Heavyweight Championship were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in the sport's history. ""Sports Illustrated"" magazine named their first meeting, the Liston–Clay fight (Ali had not yet changed his name from Cassius Clay), as the fourth greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. The first bout was held in February 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay (later Ali) won when Liston gave up at the opening of the seventh round (after being clearly dominated in the sixth). Their"
"Jack Dillon Ernest Cutler Price (February 2, 1891 – August 7, 1942) better known as Jack Dillon, was an American boxer who held the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. Dillon was often referred to as ""Jack the Giant Killer"" for his ability to handle the most dangerous heavyweights of his era. Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer ranked Dillon as the #3 Light Heavyweight of all-time, while boxing promoter Charley Rose placed him at #2. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Dillon as the 16th best Light-Heavyweight ever. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1959"
"tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. During the late summer of 1991, Ric Flair – a multi-time world champion in the rival National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling – signed with the WWF and, appearing on television with his ""Big Gold Belt,"" began targeting WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and declaring himself ""The Real World Champion."" A feud with Hogan, long-anticipated by fans since the late 1980s, was quickly conceived, and escalated at Survivor Series when he helped The Undertaker defeat Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Due to Flair's involvement in"
"Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as ""Sugar"" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions; as well as the undisputed welterweight title. Leonard was part of ""The Fabulous Four"", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of himself, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. ""The Fabulous Four"" created a wave"
"Jack Brisco Freddie Joe ""Jack"" Brisco (September 21, 1941 – February 1, 2010) was an American professional wrestler. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco. Brisco is considered one of the top wrestlers of his era; in 2005, Don Leo Jonathan called him ""probably the greatest champion of the 20th century."" In the late 1970s, the Brisco brothers discovered Terry Bollea, the future wrestling legend best known as Hulk Hogan, whom they introduced to Hiro Matsuda for training."
"Carl Williams (boxer) Carl Williams (November 11, 1959 – April 7, 2013), nicknamed ""The Truth"", was an American boxer from Belle Glade, Florida who was the USBA United States Heavyweight Boxing champion, and who fought in several noteworthy boxing matches in the 1980s and 1990s. Williams won two New York Golden Gloves Championships. Williams won both the 1980 New York Golden Gloves Sub-Novice Heavyweight Championship and the 1981 Heavyweight Open Championship. Williams' first title shot was against Larry Holmes, a fight he lost in a controversial decision. His next fight was a victory against Jesse Ferguson. Williams is perhaps best"
"WWF World Heavyweight Championship during the following months, with the feud taking on a new level when Ted DiBiase – who was Hogan's primary challenger at the time – announced he planned to offer Hogan a cash buyout in exchange for the title, which Hogan emphatically refused. With fan anticipation of a Hogan-André rematch, André sneak attacked Hogan on ""Saturday Night's Main Event"", choking the champion until he was virtually unconscious, and shortly thereafter, DiBiase announced his alignment with André to help him win the championship. At the first Royal Rumble supercard on January 24, 1988, Hogan and André signed"
"Event"", Cena faced off against Carlito in another non-title match, which Cena won. After the match, Orton came out and attacked Cena, which led to a RKO from Orton through a steel chair. The main storyline on the SmackDown brand was between The Great Khali and Batista over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 6 episode of ""SmackDown"", Khali issued an open challenge for a match at The Great American Bash, which was accepted by Batista later that night. On ""SmackDown"" the following week, the match between Khali and Batista was made official after a contract signing. That same"
"Ali Baba (wrestler) Arteen Ekizian (September 28, 1901 – November 16, 1981), better known by the ring name Ali Baba, was an Armenian American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. During the Armenian Genocide, his father and younger brother were murdered and Ekizian was sold as a slave to Arabs. After four years of hard labor, he escaped and moved to the United States in 1920 with help from his uncle Garabed in Massachusetts. Ekizian began professional wrestling while serving in the U.S. Navy. He became the Fleet Championship"
"Alvin Lewis (boxer) Alvin Lewis, also known as Al Lewis, (born in Detroit, Michigan on 12 November 1942) was a United States professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division under the alias """"Al ""Blue"" Lewis"""". Lewis was a long-term sparring partner of Muhammad Ali and is mentioned in Ali's autobiography. He was well-known as a powerful gym adversary. He also sparred with, among others, George Foreman before the champion's match with Ken Norton. Lewis died in Flint, Michigan on 21 January 2018, aged 75. His death was not significantly publicized. Lewis was born in Detroit and, after a troubled"
"World Heavyweight Champion, and Mr. T, accompanied by Jimmy Snuka, against ""Rowdy"" Roddy Piper and ""Mr. Wonderful"" Paul Orndorff, accompanied by ""Cowboy"" Bob Orton. Professional boxer Muhammad Ali was the special guest referee (on the outside of the ring), New York Yankees manager Billy Martin was the guest ring announcer while Liberace (accompanied by The Rockettes) was the guest time keeper. First, Piper, Orndorff, and Orton made their way to the ring as drums and bagpipes played, causing the crowd to boo. Crowd favorites Hogan, Mr. T, and Snuka made their way to the ring next. The match began with"
"professional heavyweight boxer James J. Beattie (6'9"", 240 pounds), the #10-ranked world heavyweight contender and an Ali sparring partner. The term, ""the great white hope,"" reflects the racism and segregation of the era in which Johnson fought. Johnson, the first African American to hold the World Heavyweight Championship title, was one of the best fighters of his generation. Yet, white reaction against Johnson's win and his very public relationships with white women was so strong that, in 1912, the United States Congress, concerned that scenes of Johnson pummeling white boxers would cause race riots, passed a law making it illegal"