Toney sends Holyfield to canvass and earns TKO victory

Courtesy Showtime Ent.

Three-time world champion Toney sent Holyfield to the canvas in the ninth round, and caused his corner to stop the Saturday, Oct. 4, pay-per-view fight.  In the other scheduled 12-round bout that evening, Casamayor scored a minor upset over Corrales when the ringside physician stopped the slugfest in the sixth round.  SHOWTIME Pay Per View aired both of the bouts live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.  Goossen Tutor Promotions served as the event’s promoter.

Toney (67-4-2, 43 KOs), of Los Angeles, by way of Grand Rapids, Mich., proved that he could handle a heavyweight as he kept hitting the former champion at will before Holyfield’s trainer Don Turner had seen enough and told referee Jay Nady of Las Vegas to stop the bout following the knockdown at 1:22 of the ninth round. The IBF cruiserweight title Toney won with a 12-round decision over Vassiliy Jirov on April 26, 2003, was not at stake. That victory represented the 35-year-old Toney’s first world title triumph in nearly nine years after holding world titles at 160 pounds and 168 pounds. 

Holyfield (38-7-2, 25 KOs), of Atlanta, had trouble from the outset in suffering his second consecutive setback.  The only heavyweight in history to win a world title on four separate occasions, Holyfield was knocked down in the ninth round after Toney kept pounding away. Holyfield, who turns 41 on Oct. 19, became only the second man following Muhammad Ali to capture the heavyweight crown three times when he stopped Mike Tyson in the 11^th round on Nov. 9, 1996.

Known worldwide for his warrior spirit and superior boxing skills, Holyfield is one of the most popular and respected athletes of his era, and has battled every premiere heavyweight including Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman and Chris Byrd.

Casamayor (30-1, 19 KOs), of Miami, by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, won the IBF elimination bout after hitting Corrales with a shot to the jaw that split his opponent’s lip and eventually forced ringside physician Margaret Goodman to stop the bout after six action-packed and hard-hitting rounds. One of the most prolific amateur boxers in history, Casamayor captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim 130-pound title with a 12-round decision over Antonio Hernandez on June 19, 1999. After successfully defending the interim crown in November 1999, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist captured the WBA world title with a fifth-round TKO over Jongkwon Baek on May 21, 2000. Casamayor made four successful defenses before suffering his only defeat on a disputed 12-round unanimous decision to undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) 130-pound kingpin Acelino Freitas on SHOWTIME Jan. 12, 2002. Since the defeat, the current WBA No. 1 130-pound contender has gone 4-0.

Corrales (37-2, 31 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., was upset the bout was stopped and begged physician Goodman to allow matters to continue for one more round. Corrales captured the IBF belt on Oct. 23, 1999, with a seventh-round TKO over Robert Garcia. After successfully defending his crown three times, Corrales lost a battle of unbeatens when World Boxing Council (WBC) titleholder Floyd Mayweather defeated him in Las Vegas on Jan. 20, 2001. Corrales entered the grudge match in less than stellar condition and wound up suffering a 10^th-round TKO. Since returning to the ring following a well-documented, two-year hiatus due to personal, managerial and promotional problems, he has gone 4-1 with four knockouts in 2003.