Evander Holyfield vs. Bert Cooper

The Homecoming

Atlanta, Georgia
Title(s) on the line	WBA and IBF heavyweight championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Evander Holyfield Bert Cooper Nickname "The Real Deal" "Smokin'" Hometown Atlanta, Georgia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Purse $7,000,000 $750,000 Pre-fight record 26–0 (21 KO) 26–7 (1) (23 KO) Age 29 years, 1 month 25 years, 10 months Height 6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (189 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) Weight 210 lb (95 kg) 215 lb (98 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA, WBC and IBF undisputed Heavyweight Champion The Ring pound-for-pound No. 6 ranked fighter 2-division undisputed world champion IBF No. 12 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Holyfield defeated Cooper by 7th round TKO

Evander Holyfield vs. Bert Cooper, billed as "The Homecoming", was a professional boxing match contested on November 23, 1991, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships.^[1]

Background

Holyfield was coming off a successful defense of his Undisputed Heavyweight Championship after defeating 42-year-old former Heavyweight champion

Only days before the Holyfield–Damiani fight was to take place, it was announced that Damiani would be force to pull out of the match due to a foot injury he received while training. It was then announced that journeyman Bert Cooper would be Damiani's replacement to challenge Holyfield.[5] As Cooper was unranked by the WBC, the organization refused to sanction the match, thus Holyfield's WBC title was not on the line.^[1]

The fights

Undercard

On the untelevised portion of the card, former

faced Bobby Crabtree, who didn't come out for the second round.

Lewis vs Biggs

The Homecoming: Lennox Lewis vs. Tyrell Biggs

Tale of the tape
Boxer Lennox Lewis Tyrell Biggs Nickname "The Lion" "The TV Terror" Hometown West Ham, London, UK Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , US Pre-fight record 17–0 (15 KO) 19–4 (12 KO) Age 26 years, 2 months 30 years, 11 months Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) Weight 230+1⁄2 lb (105 kg) 231 lb (105 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA No. 3 Ranked Heavyweight IBF No. 5 Ranked Heavyweight WBC No. 6 Ranked Heavyweight 1984 Olympic Super heavyweight Gold Medallist
Result
Lewis defeated Biggs by 3rd round TKO

In the chief support, rising contender Lennox Lewis faced former world title challenger and fellow Olympic gold medallist Tyrell Biggs. Lewis was having only his third bout in the States, while Biggs was coming off a competitive showing against Lewis' Olympic rival Riddick Bowe.

The two had faced off in the Quarter Finals of the 1984 Olympics with Biggs taking the win on points 5–0.

After two relatively uneventful rounds, Lewis knocked down Biggs with a right cross with less than a minute left in the third round. Biggs beat the count, but he was down twice more with the third knockout prompting the referee to wave it off.

Main Event

Though Cooper was given little chance to defeat Holyfield, he nevertheless put on a decent^{[clarification needed]} showing against the champion. In the first round, Holyfield used his speed to take advantage of Cooper, consistently hitting him with several quick combinations. A little past midway through the round, Holyfield hit Cooper with a left hook to the body that dropped him to the canvas, though Cooper quickly got up and survived the rest of the round. After a solid^{[clarification needed]} second round from both fighters, Holyfield came out strong in the opening seconds of round 3, staggering Cooper with a left hook to the side of the head. As the first minute of the round was coming to a close, Cooper landed a right hand to Holyfield's head that staggered the champ. Cooper then got Holyfield against the ropes and landed a combination that included a right hand to the back of Holyfield's head. Before Holyfield could fall to the canvas, he grabbed the top rope to keep himself up. Despite not hitting the floor, referee Mills Lane called it a knockdown, the first of Holyfield's professional career. Cooper continued his attack on Holyfield, landing several powerful punches and nearly knocking him down again, but Holyfield held on to Cooper just as he was about to go down. As the second minute passed, Holyfield regained his form and proceeded to land a powerful combination of his own. The two men traded punches for nearly the entire final minute of the round, but both men survived without any further knockdowns. After three more rounds, Holyfield ended the fight late in round 7. With 20 seconds to go in the round, Holyfield hit Cooper with a long combination. Though Cooper never went down, he could no longer defend himself, causing Lane to stop the fight with two seconds left in the round and award Holyfield the victory via technical knockout.^[6]

Aftermath

Holyfield had hoped to fight Tyson next, however, on February 10, 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. As a result on 5 March it was announced that Holyfield's next opponent would be 42-year-old former Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes.^[7]

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:^[8]

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO

References