If you are one of those people who have always liked sports, particularly boxing, then chances are you have already heard of Evander Holyfield and how he rose in his career but fell into a deep pit when talking about his finances and net worth. Let us take a look at four things to know about the former boxer’s life, wealth, and net worth.
Born on October 16, 1962, Evander Holyfield grew up to be a professional boxer in 1984 to 2011. Those years were the peak of his career. He is someone who reigned as an undisputed champion in two different weight categories, the cruiserweight and the heavyweight. Because of his skill, he was dubbed as “The Real Deal” and “The Warrior”. He only had 10 losses out of a total of 57 fights in the entirety of his career before he officially retired in 2014.
Really impressive, right? Aside from setting groundbreaking records in the world of boxing, Holyfield still made sure to set time aside for his personal life. He actually has 11 children with his 6 different partners! Here are the names of the boxer’s children from oldest to youngest:
Evander Jr.
Elijah Esaias
Eleazar Evan
Evette Ashley
Ewin Ezekiel
Eli Ethan
Ebonne Esheal
Eden Eloise
Emani Winter
Eve Elizabeth
Elijah Jedidiah
We all know that boxers already make a lot of money from the pot that they win during fights but in his run as a professional boxer, Holyfield also had a number of endorsements and sponsorships that helped him build his fortune. In the early 90s, he was the face of Coca-Cola. He also had a videogame released in Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear: Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing. He also partnered with Citran Corp. in 2007 when he released the Real Deal Grill through TV advertisements.
Aside from the products he endorsed, Holyfield also had guest appearances on television. One of his first appearances was in the Christmas special of the popular 90s show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He was also part of the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb where his character was also given just half an ear— talk about accuracy! He also participated in some TV shows like Dancing With the Stars, Celebrity Big Brother (UK), and Bailando.
All of his projects— even after his boxing stint— gave him more than what he needed as regards his financial stability and net worth. However, it seems that even with all his prize money from boxing, endorsements, and TV appearances, Holyfield’s financial life did not really turn out that well.
According to reports, Holyfield’s net worth before could easily be estimated at around $200 million! Unfortunately, he had a very lavish lifestyle. When he was already earning a lot, he bought a 54,000-square foot home just outside of Atlanta. The home was said to have cost $10 million but apparently its real cost was higher since he had to take a $14 million mortgage from a bank. The house was so big that it was very difficult to maintain. He easily lost around $1 million per year just to maintain the property itself.
Aside from that, he has 11 children and he needed to provide child support for all of them. In addition to his financial obligations to his children, he also went through multiple divorces and surely, those did not come without a cost.
He was also involved in multiple business deals which mostly failed including his business on BBQ sauce, a grill, and even a fire extinguisher which easily cost him at around $10 million.
Because of everything that he experienced, Holyfield’s net worth surely came crashing down since he stopped the fights in the ring. Today, he earns about $100,000 per month for his occasional appearances. So, what is his net worth now? Evander Holyfield’s net worth now is just at a comparatively low $1 million!
This is a shock especially for those who do not understand how money revolves. Let us just hope that Holyfield really has learned his lesson as regards his spending habits.