Savarese, a Roberts Elementarian, began his professional boxing career on April 30, 1989, knocking out James Smith (not the former world Heavyweight champion) in four rounds at
Galveston, Texas. Savarese's first win by first round
knockout came on his second fight, against Terrence Roberts, on May 25, at
Atlantic City. Savarese won his first eight fights by knockout. On April 19, 1990, Savarese was forced to fight an entire boxing fight for the first time, when he defeated Mike Robinson in
Poughkeepsie, New York, by a six-round decision. He proceeded to win his next seven fights by knockout, and, in 1991, Kayo boxing cards published a
trading card featuring Savarese. On September 20 of that year, he and Robinson had a rematch, with Savarese knocking Robinson out in the fourth round. His next fight, against Mike Faulkner on November 26, at
White Plains, New York, resulted in a five-round disqualification win for Savarese. On November 21, 1992, Savarese fought Larry Givens, who is mostly famous for his incredible lack of success as a professional boxer. Givens retired with a record of 3–46. Savarese managed to KO Givens in the 2nd round. Savarese ran his record to 36–0, with 30 knockouts, but he was a relatively unknown fighter: apart from the 1991 Kayo boxing trading card, no other type of media attempted to make Savarese's name a household one, partly because of the type of opposition he had met. Of Savarese's thirty six opponents, none was known to most boxing fans. So the Savarese management team came with an ingenious, and not very often seen, way to draw the public's attention towards Savarese: a Lou Savarese fan club was created, and, by the middle 1990s, the fan club was being advertised on major boxing magazines, such as
Ring and
KO. The advertisement offered free membership to anyone, and promised free personalized, autographed photos to each new member. The idea worked, and Savarese was next faced with his first relatively known opponent,
Buster Mathis Jr. This fight was for the
NABF's vacant regional Heavyweight title, and Savarese won the title on November 1, 1996, by knocking Mathis out in round seven, at
Indio, California. Next was a major fight against former two-time world Heavyweight champion
George Foreman. The fight was held on April 26, 1997, in Atlantic City. It was Savarese's
HBO Boxing television show's debut, and for the
WBU "world Heavyweight title" and the
Lineal Heavyweight Championship. While Savarese lost for the first time, he nevertheless impressed boxing critics and fans, many of whom felt he deserved the split decision that was given to Foreman. Savarese lost by scorecards of 110–118, 112-115 and a favorable 114–113. Based on his performance against Foreman, the outcome of his next fight, against
David Izon on November 1, was considered to be a mild upset. Savarese and Izon fought at
New York's famed
Apollo Theater, and Savarese suffered his first knockout defeat, when Izon beat him in five rounds. But Savarese would rebound by scoring two important wins: on April 23, 1998, he defeated Jeff Lally by a knockout in round two at the Sheraton Hotel in Houston, and then, on June 25, he scored what was arguably his biggest career win, beating
Buster Douglas, a former world Heavyweight champion and the first man to beat
Mike Tyson, by knockout in the first round to win IBA's "World" Heavyweight title. After that, he fought only twice in 1999, winning a split decision over then prospect Lance "Mount" Whitaker and losing by ten-round decision against future
Lennox Lewis world championship challenger
Michael Grant, on June 19 at New York's
Madison Square Garden. More than one year later, on June 24, 2000, Savarese had his first fight abroad, when he faced Tyson in
Glasgow, Scotland. The fight was stopped thirty eight seconds into the first round. While attempting to stop Tyson, referee John Coyle was accidentally pulled to the floor by him. Tyson was declared the winner by technical knockout. Savarese remained active, and, after two wins, he beat
David Bostice on November 2, 2001, by a twelve-round decision. Another major win for Savarese came on September 22, 2002, when he beat former two-time world Heavyweight champion
Tim Witherspoon by a knockout in round five at
Friant, California. On March 15, 2003, he lost the title to former
John Ruiz world title challenger
Kirk Johnson, who knocked Savarese out in four rounds at
Dallas. Attempting to win another regional Heavyweight title, Savarese fought
Leo Nolan, for the IBA's vacant Americas Heavyweight title, but he lost to Nolan by a twelve-round unanimous decision on May 7, 2004. Lou Savarese returned to the ring on March 18, 2006, stopping Marcus Rhode in two rounds at Convention Center in
Fort Smith, Arkansas. His record then stood at 44-6, with 36 wins by knockouts. Savarese is trained by
Jesse Reid, who survived a shooting in 1984 when another of his boxers, former
WBC world Jr. Welterweight champion
Bruce Curry shot him two days after losing to
Billy Costello. Lou Savarese continued his comeback by stopping Travis Fulton in 3 rounds on January 18, 2007, in Houston TX. Savarese showed he still had decent ability and brought his record to 45-6, 37 wins by knockout. On June 30, 2007, Savarese fought former Heavyweight Champion
Evander Holyfield. He fought with great heart but lost by decision to a sharp looking Holyfield. Savarese announced after the fight that he had given it his all but it wasn't good enough, and this would be his last bout. ==Mixed martial arts career==