| Fight Name: | The War on October 4 |
| Fight Date: | October 4, 2003 |
| Location: | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada |
| Fighter1: |  Evander Holyfield |
| Nickname1: | "The Real Deal" |
| Hometown1: | Atlanta Georgia |
| Record1: | 38–6–2 (25 KO) |
| Height1: | 6 ft 2 in |
| Weight1: | 219 lb |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | WBC No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight IBF No. 5 Ranked Heavyweight WBO No. 9 Ranked Heavyweight WBA No. 12 Ranked Heavyweight 2-division undisputed world champion |
| Fighter2: | James Toney |
| Nickname2: | "Lights Out" |
| Hometown2: | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Record2: | 66–4–2 (42 KO) |
| Height2: | 5 ft 9 in |
| Weight2: | 217 lb |
| Style2: | Orthodox |
| Recognition2: | IBF Cruiserweight Champion 3-division world champion |
| Result: | Toney defeats Holyfield by TKO in round nine |
Evander Holyfield vs. James Toney, billed as "The War on October 4", was a professional boxing match contested on October 4, 2003.
In June 2003, it was announced that former 4-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield would face reigning IBF cruiserweight champion James Toney in a non-title bout set for October 4, 2003.[1]
Holyfield's previous fight had been a loss to Chris Byrd in an IBF heavyweight title fight. Following the loss, Holyfield had entered negotiations with promoter Don King to face then-WBA heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. Jones' promoter claimed Holyfield was offered a $10 million purse, but negotiations fell through when Holyfield demanded an additional $2 million added on because he claimed King owed him such. After the proposed Holyfield–Jones fight fell through, Holyfield instead reached an agreement to face Toney[2] Toney had won the IBF cruiserweight title in April by defeating Vassiliy Jirov, giving him his first major title since 1994 and making him a 3-division world champion as he had previously captured titles in both the middleweight and super middleweight divisions. Toney and his promoter Dan Goossen had agreed that if Toney beat Jirov for the cruiserweight title, then he could "do what he wanted." After doing so, Toney then decided to move up to the heavyweight division.[3]
Going in to the fight Holyfield was ranked as the 4th Heavyweight in the world by Ring magazine, as well as in the top 5 by both the WBC & IBF.[4]
Holyfield got off to a good start in the fight, winning two of the first three rounds on two of the judge's scorecards and all three on the other judge's scorecards. However, from the fourth round on, Toney would dominate Holyfield, punishing him with a series of powerful combinations and left hooks and winning every round from then on. After punishing Holyfield for 5+ rounds, Toney was finally able to breakthrough with a knockdown in round nine after landing left hook to the body caused Holyfield to collapse to the mat. Holyfield would get back up, but his trainer Don Turner decided to stop the fight by throwing in the towel, automatically giving Toney the victory by technical knockout at 1:42 of the round.[5] [6]
Though Holyfield admitted after the fight that "Toney did beat me up" and there were calls for his retirement following consecutive defeats, Holyfield decided to put retirement off, stating "No, I'm not going to retire, I'm going back to the drawing board."[7]
Despite some interest in a rematch with Roy Jones Jr., Toney would have one more fight against Rydell Booker, before agreeing to face WBA champion John Ruiz.[8] [9]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 200+ lb | James Toney | def. | Evander Holyfield | TKO | 9/12 | |
| Super Featherweight | 126 lb | Joel Casamayor | def. | Diego Corrales | TKO | 6/12 | |
| Bantamweight | 118 lb | Cruz Carbajal (c) | def | Gerardo Espinoza | TKO | 8/12 | |
| Middleweight | 160 lb | Keith Holmes | def | Jason Papillion | TKO | 8/8 |