Evander signed to make his first defense of his newly won championship on April 22, 1994 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. His opponent was Michael Moorer, the southpaw former WBO light heavyweight champion, who had moved up to the heavyweight division. I went over my brother’s to see this one on pay-per-view, and didn’t think Evander should have too many problems with Moorer.
I distinctly remember in the second round feeling sorry for Michael, when Holyfield knocked him down with a left hook. He arose however, and wasn’t really hurt at all. The bout itself was pretty evenly fought throughout, but something seemed wrong to me with Evander. He looked like he was exhausted, and his face appeared to show anguish at times. He went long stretches of time doing nothing, and left Moorer win rounds because of his inactivity.
As the twelve round came to an end, I knew it was possible that Moorer had won, although I still thought Evander had done enough to eek out a decision. The split decision went to Moorer instead, and I wasn’t happy at all. George Foreman voiced his thoughts as an HBO announcer as well, saying he thought the wrong man got the victory.
Evander explained in his post fight interviews that he had fought with an injured shoulder, and it explained his lack of activity. He said there were certain punches he just couldn’t throw because of his shoulder.
A week or so later, it was announced that Holyfield had been diagnosed with a bad heart, and he announced his retirement. It was later revealed that this was a total misdiagnosis, and the reason was that Evander had been given huge amounts of morphine after the fight, and that made it appear he was in heart failure. As for the night of April 22, 1994, it was not one of my favorites in my many years as a boxing fan.
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