“People seem to be genuinely surprised when I tell them [Holyfield] was my toughest opponent, not to be confused with my toughest fight, which was [Ray] Mercer, but when you really dive into why that is, it actually makes a lot of sense,” he went on to say.
“Holyfield, like me, has a strong amateur background that has helped him well in his professional career.
“He started boxing when he was eight years old and won an Olympic bronze medal in 1984. Prior to moving up to the heavyweight division, he dominated the cruiserweight division as the unchallenged champion, and probably the finest ever, in that weight class.
“That is a lot of experience, and it’s reasonable to assume that by the time we met,
The Eagles sorely needed to add young talent to their secondary entering the draft, and they did it by selecting perhaps the top cornerback in the draft, Quinyon Mitchell of the University of Toledo.
The Birds remained at No. 22 in the draft and took advantage of the abundance of offensive players picked in the first round to select Mitchell, the team’s first cornerback pick in the round since 2002.
Instead of selecting a player from a Power 5 school, as they did in recent years, the Eagles chose Mitchell, who played in the Mid-American Conference at Toledo. The Eagles chose Mitchell over the other top cornerback in the draft, Terrion Arnold of the University of Alabama, who was selected two rounds later by the Detroit Lions.
Mitchell and Arnold will be linked throughout their careers, but Mitchell should challenge Eagles CB James Bradberry for the starting job in Week 1.
Mitchell brings a “gumbo of traits” to the Eagles, having set Toledo’s all-time pass breakup record.
