By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In Irving, TX, at the Toyota Music Factory as part of the Ring of Hope Boxing annual fundraiser, the son of the “Real Deal” Evander Holyfield, the only four-time world heavyweight champion, middleweight Evan Holyfield (4-0, 3 KOs) showed he may be the real deal with a solid, four round decision against the gritty Dylan Carlson (1-1, 1 KO).

Carlson brought the fight to Holyfield in the 1st round and had him in the corner where he landed his overhand right, before Holyfield showed good footwork and brought the fight back to the center of the ring. Holyfield scored with left, right combos and a big left hook that rocked Carlson later in the round. The 2nd and 3rd rounds are where Holyfield consistently found his mark with the left hook to both the head and body and tried to put the fight away, but Carlson showed his resiliency and mixed it up with Holyfield at times. The fourth round was all Holyfield as he walked down Carlson and showed his diverse arsenal with combos, hooks and big blows to the body. The scores read 40-36 twice and 39-37 as Holyfield came away with unanimous decision with his dad looking on ringside.

Before he followed his dad into the squared circle, Holyfield was the number one ranked Tae Kwon Do fighter in the United States in his weight class at only 13 years old. The elder Holyfield fought in Dallas in 2006 and stopped Jeremy Bates in the 2nd round, not far from Irving, where his son earned his 4th win without a defeat.