Evander Holyfield vs James Toney (2003) FULL FIGHT

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.