He used to be a big star, known for his temperament and the millions he earned. Today, boxing experts claim – he counts six figures losses. Evander Holyfield is just one of the athletes who touched the very bottom. We present to you one of the most controversial athletes and one of the biggest financial crashes in the world of sports – which brought this once-famous athlete to the brink of ruin.
Holyfield – The Rise And Fall Of The Star
There’s something strange about athletes- especially boxers. Just like Mike Tyson – his big opponent Evander Holyfield played around a bit with money. This four-time world champion earned $ 560 million during his career. And then he seemed to get lost. Specifically, he forgot to pay alimony for his eleven children. That’s why he earned a lawsuit – and it cost him everything. Who knows, maybe his thunderous right hand, with which he was tearing down his opponents – got tired of writing checks for children, so he decided to stop with it. However, now he dreams the same dream as all “ordinary mortals” – about six zeros in his bank account.
The Rise Of The Legend
At just 12, Holyfield started training boxing. Some say it’s too late, but not for this goliath. He quickly started winning tournaments for young categories, so being just 13, he managed to win his first Junior Olympic Games. An incredibly fast rise in his boxing career led him to the fact that at his 15-16, he is a champion who is winning awards for the best boxer. As a great talent, that led him right to the US national team for the Olympic Games 1984 – and he justified the trust by winning a bronze medal. His incredibly fast progress led him to become a pro at the age of 21. In just 9 years, from a boy who started training boxing – at the age of 21, he started fighting for the first serious titles in professional boxing and big cash prizes.
Lavish Talent Or Desire For Power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1GEnT-XYGw
Since 1985, when he got into serious professional matches – Holyfield has only had a string of successes. Every year or month he brought new titles and the greats in the ring were falling before him. Every year it was a new success – and a step further towards the desired goal of being the best in the world. And then comes the 1990 and famous match against Buster Douglas that was supposed to connect all the heavy-weight titles – The Ring, Lineal, WBC, WBA, and IBF.
Buster Douglas was the only boxer who managed to defeat Mike Tyson before this and take away his title. However, he didn’t keep the title for a long time – because he ran into Evander who was powerful and relentless. Successes followed, but everyone was expecting a famous match with Tyson – because he was the only one who could defeat Holyfield.
The mighty Holyfield was relentless and sent Tyson twice to ‘sleep’ during the match. Even though he could stay without his ear – it didn’t stop him to kick Mike Tyson, who was inviolable until that match. Holyfield has become the king in the ring, but also in real life – because huge premiums from awards and sponsors began to hit into his head. For the 1997 match against Tyson alone, he earned over $ 33 million.
Money And How To Lose It
Like his great opponent Tyson – Holyfield was also not very careful with money. Although he took $ 30 million for the rematch with Tyson – he was not very frugal when it comes to money. How did someone with so much money allow himself to go bankrupt? According to follownews.com – expensive life and expensive divorces cost him a lot. After a while, boxing was no longer the basic income inflow he had.
He earned more from his name. Contracts with diet Coke brought in huge amounts of money. Besides that, being a trademark of video games for the company Sega brought him some serious profits. He was even involved with the Real Deal Grill cooking appliance in cooperation with Cirtran Corp.
So what happened to the great Evander Holyfield? This celebrity athlete eventually fell to low branches. He even participated in many reality shows such as Big Brother, Dancing With The Stars, etc. Still, none of that helped him not go bankrupt.
Successful In Boxing – Bad In Finance Management
Vertiginous success and huge cash prizes did not guide this champion on the right path. Although he was disciplined and smart as a boxer – for everything else he did not move away from his great opponent Tyson. Although he earned more than $ 560 million throughout his career – the madness in spending money prevailed. He was less than forty years old when he could choose how to invest the huge millions he earned. However, he ended up like most arrogant athletes in debt and unpaid bills and mortgages.
How Did He Manage To Lose Money And Go Bankrupt?
Buying unnecessary properties that cost a million dollars a month just to maintain – is one way to empty your wallet. But that’s not all. When someone has so much money before he even gets to his forties, it leads him to ruin. Many blame the famous boxing promoter, Don King, for Holyfield’s downfall. Namely, King took on the role of a guardian when Holyfield sent Tyson to boxing retirement.
Tyson himself later stated that King was only interested in money – and that he would even kill his mother for a dollar. However, women were those that cost our champion – that is, expensive divorces, 3 of them. When you have 12 children, no matter how much you work – it’s not enough. Besides, with arrogant behavior and love of gambling – bankruptcy is the least that awaits you, no matter how many millions you have.
The Collapse Of The Grand Champion
From the bad business moves that Don King made possible for him, to the expensive divorces that squeezed him like a lemon – Holyfield managed to fall to the bottom and go bankrupt. No wonder he was forced to leave his lavish life because he was now questioning his existence. Debts for taxes and mortgages accumulated and even when he sold his magnificent property – he remained indebted to banks for mortgages and accounts. In the end, he was forced to sell off even his favorite, which are memories – all to survive. From the Olympic medal to the rings he won and the boxing gloves – it all ended up at auction sales.
The Bottom Line
The conclusion is superfluous because today it is estimated that Holyfield is worth something around half a million dollars – and that is the amount he used to earn once for just 10 seconds of advertising. Still, who knows? Holyfield is unpredictable in life, just like in boxing. Maybe he will come to his senses and stand firm on both feet as he used to when he ruled the ring.
