USA: BOXING PROMOTER DON KING ANNOUNCES FIRST HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING MATCHES TO TAKE PLACE IN CHINA IN AUGUST
Record ID:
648382
USA: BOXING PROMOTER DON KING ANNOUNCES FIRST HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING MATCHES TO TAKE PLACE IN CHINA IN AUGUST
- Title: USA: BOXING PROMOTER DON KING ANNOUNCES FIRST HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING MATCHES TO TAKE PLACE IN CHINA IN AUGUST
- Date: 14th May 2001
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 14, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. TOA RESTAURANT IN NEW YORK 2. DON KING ENTERS ROOM FOLLOWED BY CHINESE DRAGONS 3. PRESS CONFERENCE WITH CHINESE DRAGONS 4. PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS 5. EVANDER HOLYFIELD (LEFT) AND JOHN RUIZ, PULL OUT TO INCLUDE DON KING AND HASIM RAHMAN (FAR LEFT) 6. HOLYFIELD 7. RUIZ 8. KING AND RAHMAN 9. MEDIA 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROMOTER DON KING, SAYING: "This is going to be a super extravaganza. All three belts will be in China on August 4th. This is the first time in history that you will have all three belts represented in one evening of boxing, and it may be so big we may have to make it two, but we'll decide on that as we go down the process." 11. PRESS CONFERENCE 12. STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS 13. RUIZ, KING AND HOLYFIELD POSING FOR PRESS 14. PRESS 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EVANDER HOLYFIELD, SAYING: "The fact that I still felt that I won both, I just didn't get the decision. The only thing is I got to put a bit more pressure, more pressure this time and not depend on decision but knowing I got to step it up and knock him out." 16. CAMERAMAN 17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN RUIZ, SAYING: "My main thing is to stay the heavyweight champion, that is my main thing. I honestly felt I won the two fights already and I'm going for my third one. It seems like I have to keep proving myself to people realize I'm the champion so, and that's the sad part because you see Rahman, he fights one fight, and people say he got lucky, but they recognize him as the champion. Here I am, I'm fighting Holyfield twice and now I have to fight a third time and still I'm the underdog." 18. BUDDHIST STATUE WITH RAHMAN AND KING POSING FOR PRESS 19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASIM RAHMAN SAYING: "He had the best deal. He offered the most attractive fights. He has all the belts in his stable now so there's an opportunity to get a unified champion which I felt like otherwise their weren't the opportunity. I just felt like that's the best deal." 20. KING TALKING TO MEDIA 21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASIM RAHMAN, SAYING: "I feel like those guys are in denial. It's over for them, they're not the champions any more. Now they have to sit back, now they get a sense of how it feels like to be the challenger like we did. We had to wait, we had to wait, we had to wait, now they have to wait. They just can't accept the fact that they have to wait." 22. RUIZ, RAHMAN, KING AND HOLYFIELD POSING FOR PRESS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 29th May 2001 13:00
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- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA6YFHHQWKBB53CEQ9D3IFCF1J1
- Story Text: Boxing promoter Don King and a troupe of colourful
dancing dragons were in New York on Monday (May 14) to
officially announce a pair of heavyweight title fights that
will be held in Beijing on August 4, the first ever to take
place on Chinese soil.
Boxing fans in China may get two heavyweight title
bouts for the price of one. At a press conference held at a
Chinese restaurant in New York on Monday (May 14), Promoter
Don King officially announced that WBA heavyweight champion
John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield will fight for a third time on
August 4 in Beijing.
King announced that the undercard will include Hasim
Rahman, who won the WBC and IBF heavyweight crowns by knocking
out Lennox Lewis last month in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rahman (35-2, 29 KOs) will oppose Brian Nielsen of Denmark.
It will be the first heavyweight title fight ever held in
China.
"This is going to be a super extravaganza. All three belts
will be in China on August 4th," said King. "This is the first
time in history that you will have all three belts represented
in one evening of boxing, and it may be so big we may have to
make it two."
King is scheduled to embark on a seven-day trip to Beijing
on Tuesday (May 15) to inspect the fight site with Chinese
officials.
The Boston Globe reported last week that Holyfield will
earn between 2.5 and 3.5 million US Dollars, while Ruiz, is
guaranteed 4 million USD and the chance to make more if there
are strong sales of the pay-per-view telecast and tickets for
the event.
Ruiz (37-4) earned 1.1 million USD for his first fight
with Holyfield (37-5-1), which ended with Holyfield winning a
controversial decision. In March, Ruiz outpointed the former
undisputed heavyweight champion in Las Vegas.
Holyfield said he would have to be more aggressive in his
next rematch with Ruiz if he wants to take Ruiz's World boxing
Association title.
"I got to put a bit more pressure, more pressure this time
and not depend on decision but knowing I got to step it up and
knock him out," said Holyfield.
For Ruiz, the fight will be about gaining the respect of
the boxing world.
"It seems like I have to keep proving myself to people
realize I'm the champion so, and that's the sad part because
you see Rahman, he fights one fight, and people say he got
lucky, but they recognize him as the champion. Here I am, I'm
fighting Holyfield twice and now I have to fight a third time
and still I'm the underdog," said Ruiz.
New heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman will defend his
titles in August in Beijing against Brian Nelson of Denmark.
Rahman, who won the International Boxing Federation (IBF)
and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles by knocking out Briton
Lennox Lewis last month, will be on the same card as the John
Ruiz-Evander Holyfield fight on August 5 in Beijing.
Rahman then will meet the winner of the Ruiz-Holyfield
bout in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship,
said King, without setting a date.
That means that Lewis will have to wait while Rahman has
at least two more fights before the Briton will have a chance
at reclaiming his titles.
King's signing of Rahman to a promotional deal last week
was a stunning development in the realignment of power in the
heavyweight division, with King the apparent winner.
Rahman explained why he decided to sign with King.
"He had the best deal. He offered the most attractive
fights," said Rahman. "He has all the belts in his stable now
so there's an opportunity to get a unified champion which I
felt like otherwise their weren't the opportunity."
Rahman was asked how long Lewis would have to wait for a
rematch.
"I feel like those guys are in denial," he said. "It's
over for them, they're not the champions any more. Now they
have to sit back, now they get a sense of how it feels like to
be the challenger like we did. We had to wait, we had to wait,
we had to wait, now they have to wait."
Rahman also was asked if he had a deal with Lewis to fight
him in 150 days.
Rahman indicated that he only had to agree to a fight -
not actually fight Lewis - in 150 days.
Rahman's promoter for the Lewis fight in South Africa was
Cedric Kushner, who until late last week was still acting as
the new champion's promoter, fielding offers for Rahman.
But Rahman signed with King, setting off a flurry of
charges and counter charges which will be fought out in court.
Lewis filed a law suit on Friday (May 11) seeking to stop
Rahman from fighting anyone before himself. Kushner filed a
lawsuit on Monday, saying he was Rahman's promoter. IBF
contender David Tua has a lawsuit pending, seeking to fight
Rahman next.
Former champion Mike Tyson also had been angling to fight
Rahman next.
But King, who invited President George W. Bush and
Secretary of State Colin Powell to attend the Beijing fight,
dismissed Tyson's bid for an immediate fight with Rahman,
saying under WBC rules Tyson is not yet the mandatory
challenger.
Rahman's co-manager Steve Nelson, who said he has
absolutely no concern about legal moves to halt the fight in
China, said Rahman's contract with Kushner had expired even
before Rahman fought Lewis.
Nelson confirmed that Rahman was offered 16-17 million USD
in separate contracts by cable television broadcasters HBO and
Showtime to sign with them.
Rahman said that the King deal was better for him "from
top to bottom."
Sources involved in the negotiations said that King's
offer to Rahman included a 5 million USD signing bonus, 5
million USD to fight Nielson and another 15 million USD to
meet the winner of Ruiz-Holyfield.
That means, Nelson said, that just for stepping into the
ring against either Holyfield or Ruiz, Rahman will earn more
money than either HBO or Showtime had offered. "He's way ahead
of the game.
Nielson, who has a 60-1 record mostly against low-grade
opponents, is expected to be a relatively easy opponent for
the 28-year-old Rahman.
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