Boxing
ERA OF COMEBACKS! EVANDER HOLYFIELD MAKES CHARITY COMEBACK AT 57
Four-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield says he is making a ring comeback for charity at age 57, hoping to help first responders and children combat the coronavirus pandemic.
And it could set the stage for a third fight against Mike Tyson more than 20 years after the originals.
Holyfield said he would fight in exhibition matches to raise support for Unite4OurFight, which helps learning and emotional development projects aimed at children whose schooling was disrupted by the deadly virus outbreak.
“Are you ready? The moment you’ve all been waiting for… The Champ is back!” Holyfield posted on Twitter.
“I’d like to announce that I will be making a comeback to the ring. I will be fighting in exhibition matches for a great cause.”
His move comes after Tyson, 53, was shown training and saying he wanted to make a charity comeback in exhibition bouts.
Holyfield has not fought since stopping Danish fighter Brian Nielsen in the 10th round at Copenhagen in 2011, improving his record to 44-10 with two drawn.
He last owned one of the three major heavyweight crowns in early 2001 after beating John Ruiz for the World Boxing Association (WBA) title in August 2000.
Holyfield stopped Mike Tyson in the 11th round in 1996 to win the WBA title and then won a 1997 rematch when Tyson was disqualified for biting.
Two of Holyfield’s other biggest fights came in 1999 when he fought a controversial draw with Lennox Lewis in New York for the undisputed heavyweight crown, then lost to the British star by unanimous decision eight months later in Las Vegas.
“My name was made on fighting,” Holyfield said on the charity’s website.
“It’s time I bring that fighter out with the man I have always been. It’s time to step up as citizens need help like never before.”
-AFP
Oleksandr Usyk will put his WBC heavyweight title belt on the line against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, Ring Magazine announced on Friday.
The Ukrainian three-times undisputed champion holds the IBF, WBA and WBC titles after vacating the WBO belt.
The 39-year-old has not boxed since beating Britain’s Daniel Dubois at London’s Wembley Stadium last July.
“I respect his (Verhoeven’s) journey – he’s truly the ‘King of Kickboxing’. But this is boxing – a different game, with its own rules and its own kings,” said Usyk, who has a 24-0 record.
“I’m ready and looking forward to meeting him in the ring. It’s going to be a unique experience for both of us, and I know the fans are excited too. A big night is coming.”
The ‘Glory in Giza’ fight will be streamed live on DAZN.
“I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven, 36, told The Ring.
“But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away from the hunger; it strengthened it. Usyk is the undisputed champion in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivated me. Undisputed versus undisputed.”
Verhoeven has sparred in the past with former champion Tyson Fury and had one professional bout in 2014, which he won by a knockout.
-Reuters
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Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face off in a professional rematch at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix, the fighters and promoters announced on Monday.
The fight marks Mayweather’s return from retirement and will be the first professional boxing match held at the Sphere.
Mayweather, who holds a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 encounter dubbed the “Fight of the Century.”
That bout generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a $72 million live gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result,” Mayweather said in a statement.
Pacquiao, whose record stands at 62-8-3 with 39 knockouts, expressed confidence he would hand Mayweather his first professional loss.
“I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him,” the Filipino fighter said.
The rematch will stream to Netflix’s more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, continuing the platform’s push into live boxing.
The streaming platform has recently broadcast several high-profile fights, including Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, which the company said drew 108 million live global viewers
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Former multi-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will come out of retirement this year for his first official fight in nearly a decade, his new promotion CSI Sports/Fight Sports said on Friday, though his opponent has yet to be decided.
Before his official return, Mayweather is set for an exhibition bout with fellow boxing great Mike Tyson, with the date and venue still to be announced.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing – from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards – no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – than my events,” Mayweather, 48, said in a statement on his new promotion’s website.
It will mark the American’s fourth comeback from retirement, following previous exits in 2007, 2015 and 2017 — the last after beating Conor McGregor to extend his record to 50-0. He has, however, fought several exhibitions since.
Across a three-decade career, Mayweather defeated many of his era’s top fighters and headlined the three highest‑grossing bouts in history, against Manny Pacquiao, McGregor and Canelo Alvarez.
-Reuters
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