Evander Holyfield’s career looked to be over after a devastating defeat in 2004 forced the NYSAC to step in.
The former Heavyweight champion’s career had been on a dip since Evander Holyfield beat Mike Tyson in the infamous ear-biting fight.
He suffered defeats to Lennox Lewis and John Ruiz before suffering three consecutive losses that culminated in a 12-round war with Larry Donald in November 2004.
The fight showed an aging Holyfield seemingly on his last legs, with the boxing commission doing their best to force him into retirement, for his own safety.
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NYSAC suspended Evander Holyfield’s license to ‘save a boxer from himself’
Following Holyfield’s defeat to Larry Donald over 12 rounds, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license indefinitely on medical grounds.
The punishment he took in the fight was too much for the commission, who wanted to stop Holyfield from boxing to avoid him suffering real damage to his brain in the future.
NYSAC chairman Ron Steven told the New York Daily News (via BBC Sport) in 2004: “I’m not looking to end his career if it’s not warranted, but the health and safety of the boxer is the main concern of the state commission.
“To my practiced mind, Holyfield shouldn’t be fighting anymore. It’s the responsibility of the state athletic commission to save a boxer from himself.
“Evander Holyfield has absorbed enough punishment throughout his great career. It’s time the bleeding stopped.”
However, the four-time world Heavyweight champion fought tooth and nail to overturn the ruling, returning to the ring two years later with one of his most impressive wins.
Evander Holyfield bounced back to earn a 2nd round KO just two years later
Despite the commission wanting the then-42-year-old to hang up his gloves for his own safety, it was a decision that Holyfield refused to accept.
After fighting the ruling, he was granted a New York State boxing license in 2006, readied for his comeback fight against Jeremy Bates.
Holyfield battled Bates on August 18, 2006, in one of his most dominant performances yet. Nearly two years after his last fight, he looked like a different man.
Holyfield was fitter and stronger than he’d been in years, renewed by his brush with retirement and taking out all of his frustrations on Bates.
It only lasted two rounds before “The Real Deal” pummelled Bates with a brutal combination in the corner, forcing the referee to end the fight as the damage became too much to bear.
Holyfield was officially back and was on the move to become world Heavyweight champion once again.