On this day, July 12th, 1986 Evander Holyfield defeated Dwight Qawi.
How'd we get there...
After the rematch with Spinks fell through due to an injury, Qawi moved up to the new Cruiserweight division. In July 1985, Qawi knocked out Piet Crous to win the WBA cruiserweight title. Qawi made a successful defense against Leon Spinks, the brother of Michael Spinks.
In his quest to unify the Cruiserweight division, Evander Holyfield, who had won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics, faced Qawi. The fight was close and competitive, with Holyfield outworking and outlanding Qawi en route to victory. The judges' scorecards reflected the closely contested bout, with two judges giving the decision to Holyfield and one judge scoring it for Qawi. Holyfield's victory over Qawi marked the first world title win of his pro career.
After defeating Qawi, Holyfield went on to unify the WBA and IBF titles by knocking out Rickey Parkey in three rounds. Given the close nature of his bout with Qawi, a rematch took place on December 1987, where he easily beat Qawi, stopping Qawi in the fourth round via a technical knockout. Holyfield continued his success in the Cruiserweight division by becoming the first Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion, stopping Carlos de León in April. Holyfield then moved up to the heavyweight division, where he achieved great success - and famously had two iconic bouts with Mike Tyson.
Holyfield is best known for his two victories over Mike Tyson.
On the other hand, Qawi remained in the Cruiserweight division for most of his career. Despite his unsuccessful bid to reclaim a world title, Qawi continued to fight until 1999.
