After unifying the cruiserweight belts in April against Carlos DeLeon, Evander made the move to the heavyweight division. His first opponent would be James ‘Quick’ Tillis, the former heavyweight contender, on July 16 in Stateline, Nevada. Holyfield knew the big bucks would be made as a heavyweight, and eventually wanted to challenge Mike Tyson for his crown. He also had the frame to carry the necessary weight, and used weight lifting to bulk up to the 202 lbs. that he went into the ring at against Tillis.
Evander looked spectacular as a heavy, and easily dominated Tillis, stopping him in five rounds. The bout was on Showtime, so I didn’t see it live, but certainly saw it on video tape later, and read about it in the boxing magazines. It was exciting to me that he would be a real challenge to Tyson eventually, and had absolutely no fear of him at all.
In December of 1988, Evander traveled to Atlantic City’s Convention Hall to take on Pinklon Thomas, the former WBC heavyweight champ. Another Showtime bout meant I wouldn’t see it live, but relied on newspaper clippings to read about it. Holyfield won every single round of the seven they fought, and proved he was a real heavyweight to me. He weighed in at a muscular 210 lbs., and let the division knew he was coming after the top contenders in 1989.
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