Evander Holyfield follows Mike Tyson’s lead, announces return to boxing

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Are you ready? The moment you've all been waiting for...<br>The Champ is back! 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: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Unite4OurFight?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Unite4OurFight</a>. Learn more: <a href="https://t.co/dfSo0HvV2O">https://t.co/dfSo0HvV2O</a> <a href="https://t.co/8PfrzalHty">pic.twitter.com/8PfrzalHty</a></p>— Evander Holyfield (@holyfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/holyfield/status/1258136758799171592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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Former American professional boxer Evander Holyfield vouched to make a ringside return, after retiring from the sport in 2011. The four-time world heavyweight champion will compete in bouts for charity campaign Unite 4 Our Fight.

“The moment you’ve all been waiting for…. The Champ is back,” he tweeted.

“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. I’m training to promote a charity that’s very close to me. Our #Unite4OurFight campaign aims to provide students the resources they need for emotional development and education,” it further read.

Holyfield’s return to the ring has raised the prospect of a dream match with his rival Mike Tyson, who announced that he is making a surprise return to the boxing ring for a four-round exhibition fight.

The latter recently stated that he is planning to compete in charity events and also shared a video of him training.

The 53-year-old claims to be in the best shape of his life.

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/evander-holyfield-comeback-mike-tyson-6398679/

 

[Pakpak]

Tyson has denied it on his Twitter

 

[KingKhanWC]

Exhibition, wont bother watching it.

Tyson wont come back, he's had enough and is too busy getting high to train.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Exhibition, wont bother watching it.

Tyson wont come back, he's had enough and is too busy getting high to train.

Have you seen the video on Tyson Instagram?

Guy can still hit harder than manny.

Also don't see why he would ever comeback. No reason for it.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Have you seen the video on Tyson Instagram?

Guy can still hit harder than manny.

Also don't see why he would ever comeback. No reason for it.

Ive seen him in real life.

He will still have the techinque to smash heavy bags or pads but boxing for even 6 x 3 min rounds is another story. He will need to train, it's possible but cant see him stop smoking the ganja for this to happen. Its also very dangerous at his age esp against another big guy, Mike doesnt need the money.

 

[MenInG]

I fear for older fighters wanting to make comebacks - health risks must be high?

 

[Bewal Express]

The majority of boxers are short of money soon after retiring. They are not the brightest people and are surrounded by leeches.

 

[MenInG]

Like 'Iron' Mike Tyson today, Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock was saying all the right things. He had re-found his hunger, gone vegan and was desperate to prove that he felt stronger in his 50s than he had in his 20s.

Razor, so-called for his punches that split opponents' skin, did what Tyson and co are currently threatening to do by launching a comeback into the heavyweight division five years ago as a 51-year-old. It ended disastrously in a resounding KO defeat to a rival 22 years his junior.

He was never a world heavyweight champion but Razor, known for the power of his left hand and a punch nicknamed 'the smash', was a competitive staple of 1990s scene who shared the ring with legends. He lost twice to Tyson but was feted for his toughness in going the distance with a broken jaw in their rematch. He was later beaten in two rounds by Lennox Lewis but owns good wins over 'Bonecrusher' Smith and Greg Page.

He called time on his career in 2001 but, 14 years later as a father of six and a grandfather of four, he announced plans to fight again and become Canadian champion.

"I've been in the ring with Tyson, all these guys, and I'm telling you: I feel better now, than I did back then," he said.

His words were eerily similar to what we've heard from Tyson and Evander Holyfield recently.

Except Razor went through with it - there were ominous signs in his first fight back, aged 51, against 44-year-old Raymond Olubowale. Razor was knocked down, clambered back up, and won in the fifth-round. It was not a statement to worry the division's elite, like he was making 30 years earlier.

He won a majority decision over six rounds just two months later to set up his challenge for Dillon Carman's Canadian heavyweight title.

His wife and manager Tritcha warned: "If you look at the heavyweight division there's a missing link, and he's the missing link."

Razor insisted: "You see, the key to boxing is, if you're not getting knocked out, you're doing okay. If you are getting knocked on the head, then you've got to go find something else to do.

"If you take care of your body, train and stay in physical condition, it has nothing to do with age. That's what I want to prove, and it will be very, very sad if in fact it turns out that I'm wrong."

He was wrong.

Lennox Lewis, Razor's old rival, was involved in the promotion of a fight against 29-year-old national champion Carman who had won eight of his 10 fights. He has since been knocked out by three different opponents.

But he floored Razor in Toronto, five years ago, a shuddering reminder that boxing is a young man's sport.

Razor's attempted comeback should be a warning to his peers who are speaking of doing the same. It began with stunning footage of Tyson training, looking terrifying.

"I've been working out, I've been trying to get in the ring," Tyson, aged 53, said. "I think I'm going to box some exhibitions and get in shape.

"I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff."

Tyson's old rival Holyfield, 57, then told Sky Sports News: "If we can work something out that works for everybody then it's a win-win-win."

Sure enough, 54-year-old Lennox Lewis tweeted a hint too.

Sky Sports' Johnny Nelson added perspective: "Once you've had time out to reflect and assess, you think 'I could do that'. But it's our mind playing tricks on us, because when you get in the ring and you come up against a youngster who's not as good as you, technically, but has more pace than you, he will do you every day of the week.

"We've seen Mike Tyson hit the headlines on the pads. And everyone's like 'oh my gosh, he's the don'. We're remembering the good times but we're not remembering the back end of the career when the body didn't switch as quick as it used to. The body didn't react as quick as it used to."

The latest talk about boxing comebacks will likely come to nothing, at best charity exhibitions where no meaningful blows are exchanged. Anybody considering a real return should consider how badly wrong it went for 'Razor' Ruddock.

https://www.skysports.com/boxing/ne...eavyweight-comeback-in-his-50s-was-a-disaster

 

[Bigboii]

Holyfield was doing so much steroids in his prime know imagine what he'll do to his body know when is so old

 

[Savak]

Lol, people will still pay PPV money to see Tyson hit the Mitts. However unless there is a crazy $100 million offer, i do not want to see him in the ring. No credible boxing commission will license him.

 

[MenInG]

Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield would fight Mike Tyson again - if his old rival asks.

Holyfield, 57, who retired in 2014, won their two previous bouts in the 1990s, including the infamous 'Bite Fight' in 1997 when Tyson was disqualified.

Both have planned returns for charity and Holyfield said a three-round fight was possible "if he [Tyson] wants to".

"If I ask him it's almost like me being a bully saying I want to go against somebody I've beaten twice," he added.

Holyfield had the last of his 57 professional bouts in 2011 when he recorded his 44th victory with a technical knockout against Denmark's Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen.

Tyson, 53, who became the youngest world heavyweight champion when he won the title aged 20 in 1986, last fought professionally in 2005 when his 58th contest ended in his sixth defeat, against Irishman Kevin McBride.

Asked about the potential of a third fight with Tyson, Holyfield told BBC Radio 5 live: "I don't want pressure on me that 'you just want to fight Mike because you know you can beat him'.

"If he hits me I'm gonna hit you back, that's what boxing is really about. I'm gonna be 58, he'll be 54, you talk about being in good health and doing things the proper way that respects it.

"Anybody that I get in the ring with, if I'm in there with my brother, if he tag me I'm gonna tag him back. If you don't want me to throw bombs you'd better not throw no bombs."

Holyfield insisted inspiring young people was his motivation.

"I don't have no problem with it. I'm doing it for my foundation to tell them what life is really about.

"When they see me box at 58 years old, they're gonna go 'wow, how did you do that?' Taking care of yourself, listen to your momma, listen to your father.

"When you become an adult you don't just say all that stuff my parents told me don't work. The reason you made it this far is because of these things your parents told you. I had good parents and a good coach.

"My coach told me at the age of eight years old 'you're gonna be the best fighter that ever came out of the south' and people laughed at him, but I was set when I made the Olympic team, then I became the undisputed cruiserweight champion, became the heavyweight champion of the world then got it again and again and again - he was right."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/52739149

 

[The Viper]

BREAKING: Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr will return to the ring for an eight-round exhibition fight on September 12 in Los Angeles.

 

[MenInG]

Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr are now not allowed to knock each other out when they share a ring for an exhibition bout on Saturday night.

The boxing legends, Tyson is 54 and Jones Jr 51, are stepping back into the ring but under a very different rule-set.

There will be no ringside judges, therefore, no winner will be announced for the bout which will be eight rounds of two minutes each.

Tyson and Jones Jr do not have to wear protective headgear but will wear 12oz gloves, bigger than the usual gloves worn in elite boxing.

If either man is cut, the bout is immediately over.

They each had to sign up to Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency testing beforehand.

UFC president Dana White's gave a baffled reaction to the rules set up by the California commission: "There's no knockouts? They're not allowed to knock each other out?

UFC president Dana White could not contain his amusement after being informed of the rules that will govern Mike Tyson's fight
Jones Jr told Sky Sports earlier this year: "If it comes down to bite, we're going to bite. Whatever has to happen, is going to happen, that's just what it is.

"He's still Mike Tyson, he's still one of the strongest, most explosive people who ever touched a boxing ring. If anything, I made a mistake going in with him. He's the bigger guy, he's the explosive guy.

"He's going to have all the first-round fireworks, not me. I do have first-round fireworks, but he's known for more first-round fireworks than anybody to ever touch boxing, other than maybe George Foreman.

"With him having the first-round fireworks, he'll be against a guy smaller than him, maybe 40-50 pounds smaller than him."

https://www.skysports.com/boxing/ne...tion-bout-between-mike-tyson-and-roy-jones-jr

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

The only reason these guys are getting in the ring in their 50's is because boxing itself has no real stars who can capture the imagination any more. Having multiple title holders wearing different belts doesn't help.

This fight is on PPV laughably, but I'm assuming people are paying to watch whichever title fight this has been tagged onto.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mike Tyson feeling 'bee-utiful' &#55357;&#56834;&#55357;&#56349; <a href="https://t.co/b7ik6Qo34A">pic.twitter.com/b7ik6Qo34A</a></p>— Sky Sports (@SkySports) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkySports/status/1537842760190935040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
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