Editing Evander Holyfield (section)

===Heavyweight===
{{main|Evander Holyfield vs. James Tillis|Evander Holyfield vs. Pinklon Thomas|Michael Dokes vs. Evander Holyfield|Evander Holyfield vs. Adílson Rodrigues|Evander Holyfield vs. Alex Stewart|Evander Holyfield vs. Seamus McDonagh}}
After that fight, he announced he was moving up in weight to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship held by Tyson. His first fight as a Heavyweight took place on July 16, when he beat former Tyson rival [[James "Quick" Tillis]] by a knockout in five, in [[Lake Tahoe, Nevada]] (Tillis had gone the distance with Tyson). For his third and final bout of 1988, he beat former Heavyweight Champion [[Pinklon Thomas]], also by knockout, in seven rounds.

Holyfield began 1989 meeting another former Heavyweight Champion, [[Michael Dokes]]. This fight was named one of the best fights of the 1980s by Ring magazine, as ''best heavyweight bout of the 1980s''. Holyfield won by a knockout in the 10th round, and then he met [[Brazilians|Brazilian]] Champion [[Adilson Rodrigues]], who lasted two rounds. His last fight of the 1980s was against [[Alex Stewart (boxer)|Alex Stewart]], a hard punching fringe contender. Stewart shocked Holyfield early, with quick, hard punches, but eventually fell in eight.

In 1990, Holyfield beat [[Seamus McDonagh (boxer)|Seamus McDonagh]], knocking him out in four rounds. By this time, Holyfield had been Ring Magazine's number-one contender for two years and had yet to receive a shot at Tyson's Heavyweight title.