Evan Holyfield, son of four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, made a pro debut last night that will make his father proud. The 21-year-old boxer was able to beat Nick Winstead in a matter of just 16 seconds.
"It was such a blessing to be able to showcase my talent on the card like this and God bless us all," Evan Holyfield said afterward. "I was just expecting to box and I just went out there and did my job. I was zoned in and God just had me."
Holyfield started the fight with full energy, coming right at Winstead from the go. Winstead ended up floored before he could even get a significant punch off.
While it was an impressive start for the young Holyfield, the general consensus seems to be that junior referee Robert Hoyle's call to stop the fight was premature. Veteran boxing referee Steve Smoger weighed in during the broadcast saying, "Very premature. You give the opportunity to complete the fight or at least make an effort... I don't know why he stopped it but he totally took the young man out of the fight."
Later in the night, Canelo Alvarez was able to beat Sergey Kovalev.