Evander Holyfield vs. Kevin McBride - August 2021

[Ruthless-RKO]

Evander Holyfield returning to ring for exhibition fight vs. Kevin McBride on June 5

Another boxing legend is stepping back into the ring.

Evander Holyfield will fight Kevin McBride in an exhibition on June 5, Triller Fight Club's Peter Kahn confirmed to ESPN's Mark Kriegel on Sunday.

Holyfield's return will be on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez's unified lightweight title defense against George Kambosos in Miami that will be streamed on Triller.

Holyfield, 58, joins the trend of retired boxers cashing in on exhibition bouts. The highest-profile exhibition bout featured Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. on a Triller card in November 2020 that reportedly sold 1.6 million pay-per-views.

That sparked the recent craze that includes Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, to name a few. Holyfield joins that mix to face McBride, the last fighter Tyson faced in his professional career.

On March 22, Holyfield released a statement through a publicist that said Holyfield and Tyson were in negotiations for a third fight between the two men. They fought in 1996 and 1997, with the second fight ending in a Tyson disqualification after he bit Holyfield's ear. According to Holyfield, Tyson's camp turned down a $25 million guarantee to face Holyfield in Miami during Memorial Day weekend.

[margaret thatcher]

crowd is gonna be pumped to see big kev in action again, even if it's against a nobody like this guy

[Ruthless-RKO]

Thing is now, let's say this fight does 1m ppv buys..

Teo is gonna say 1m bought it to see him, little will he know it might be hardcore Holyfield fans.

[margaret thatcher]

Let's be honest, we know that mcbride will be drawing most of the buys

[oogiebe]

Let's be honest, we know that mcbride will be drawing most of the buys

[Boxtune]

Boring ...why would anyone should care to see farting Tyson, Holyfield in the ring again !
If wald makes a comeback, i care, because he is still in Tip Top shape

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Id rather see the fight we all want which is holy vs mike mollo

[H8Usernames]

I'd fork out 20$ right now if it would prevent this fight from taking place.

[JamesPhilips]

Its scarily possible that McBride will be able to say he stopped two of the greatest heavies ever.

[margaret thatcher]

When you beat a legend, you become a legend

When you beat 2 legends, you are a boxing gawd walking this earth

Big kev is looking to ascend on June 5th

[DrDuke]

Its scarily possible that McBride will be able to say he stopped two of the greatest heavies ever.

Now they both are old and rusty farts.

[JamesPhilips]

Its scarily possible that McBride will be able to say he stopped two of the greatest heavies ever.

Now they both are old and rusty farts.

The Tyson fight was a big upset, but Holyfield is almost 60 I think?

[Enlightened-One]

By the time he enters the ring against McBride, Evander Holyfield will only be a few months short of his 59th birthday.

The combined age of Holyfield and McBride slightly exceeds the equivalent figure for the Tyson-Jones exhibition.

I feel there’ll be strict commission rules in place (even if they’re not publicly disclosed) preventing either man for seeking the KO. There won’t be an actual “winner” (in the true meaning of the word).

It’ll only be a friendly noncompetitive body-spar exhibition. Both men will be pulling their punches, especially for any blows to the head.

Anybody thinks this will be something else, as per the options associated with the thread poll (other than draw), are being naïve.

[Ruthless-RKO]

FITE tv Press Release

Triller Fight Club (TFC) took another major step in its growing sports and entertainment business today when it added one of the world’s most respected and accomplished athletes, Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, to its lineup of elite fighters, legends, rising stars and leading entertainment personalities. Holyfield, the only person ever to win the world heavyweight title four times, will return to the ring to fight Kevin McBride in a six-round bout in Florida on Saturday, June 5. He will join a card that already has the title fight between Teófimo López and George Kambosos Jr. The veteran McBride (35-10-1) is best known for ending the career of Mike Tyson in June of 2005 when Tyson retired in the sixth round in Washington, D.C. Triller Fight Club is a partnership between Triller and Snoop Dogg and is spearheaded by Ryan Kavanaugh. All professional fight rules will apply.

The location and times for Triller Fight Club on June 5 will be announced officially in the coming days.

“Our continued reinvention of boxing as four-quadrant entertainment now adds one of the biggest names in the history of boxing, Evander Holyfield, against one of the best opponents, Kevin McBride,” Kavanaugh said. “He joins a lineup featuring some of the most elite fighters who are on their way up the ranks and world-class musical entertainment as we present a multifaceted experience for fans of every interest in four action-packed and exciting pay per view hours.”

“I am proud to be able to join Triller Fight Club as they are exactly what our industry needed. They have reimagined the sport of boxing in a very exciting new way,” Holyfield said. “Their combination of young talent, music, entertainment and special matchups is setting a new standard for our sport, and my return to the ring for this fight is one that everyone, myself included, will enjoy, and I am proud to help take this to the next level.”

Holyfield is the only professional fighter to win the heavyweight championship four separate times, surpassing the record of Muhammad Ali, who won it three times. After a standout amateur and Olympic boxing career, Holyfield turned professional, and in 1986 he won the junior heavyweight title by upsetting World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a 15-round split decision. In April 1988, with an eighth-round knockout of Carlos DeLeon, Holyfield became boxing’s first undisputed cruiserweight champion. Three months later he fought his first heavyweight bout, knocking out James Tillis in five rounds. On October 25, 1990, he scored a third-round knockout of James (“Buster”) Douglas to win the undisputed heavyweight title of the WBA, the World Boxing Council (WBC), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF).

After successful defenses against former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, Holyfield lost the title on November 13, 1992, dropping a 12-round decision to Riddick Bowe. In a rematch with Bowe one year later, he recaptured the WBA and IBF titles in another decision. Holyfield met heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a much-anticipated WBA bout on November 9, 1996, scoring a TKO in the 11th round, becoming the heavyweight champion for a third time. Holyfield regained the IBF title by knocking out Michael Moorer in the eighth round of their November 8, 1997 rematch. He retired in 2014 with a career record of 44 wins (29 by knockout), 10 losses, and 2 draws. Holyfield was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.

Fight Club has created and named this match the Legends Title Fight and will be delivering the winner the Triller Fight Club Legends Champion Gold Belt, the first of Fight Club’s championship belts.

López, 23, is the current unified lightweight world champion, having held the IBF title since 2019 and the WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine titles since defeating Vasyl Lomachenko in 2020. López is ranked as the world’s fifth best active boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN and Boxing Writers Association of America, and sixth by The Ring. He is also ranked as the world’s best active lightweight by BoxRec, ESPN and the TBRB.

The Australian Kambosos has held the IBF Pan Pacific lightweight title since 2017. He previously held the Australian NSW, Australian, WBA-PABA, and WBA Oceania lightweight titles between 2013 and 2017. Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs) became the IBF mandatory challenger after defeating Lee Selby by split decision in October.

In the headline matchup of Triller Fight Club’s first event of 2021 on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Jake Paul takes on former Bellator and ONE FC champion Ben Askren, while Regis Prograis (New Orleans), a former world champion and arguably one of the top two super lightweights in the world, battles Ivan Redkach (Shostka, Ukraine); heavyweight MMA Bad Boy Frank Mir (Las Vegas) opposes Steve Cunningham (Philadelphia); and Joe Fournier (London) challenges music icon and worldwide star Reykon (Envigado, Colombia). Several undefeated boxers put their records on the line Saturday: welterweight Quinton Randall (Houston, 7-0), super middleweight Junior Younan (Brooklyn, N.Y., 15-0-1) and middleweight Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson (Baltimore, Md., 9-0). Simpson will meet Francisco Torres (Buenos Aires, 16-3-1), while Younan will take on Jeyson Minda (Quito, Ecuador/Salem, Mass., 14-4-1) and Randall will battle Cincinnati veteran William Jackson (13-2-2, 2 KOs).

The lineup for Saturday’s four-hour Pay Per View show will include performances by Justin Bieber, The Black Keys, Doja Cat, Saweetie, Diplo, Major Lazer, and the exclusive world premiere of the hip hop supergroup Mt. Westmore (Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Too $hort and E-40) performing for their first time ever together. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bert Marcus will lead and direct the creative storytelling for the Triller Fight Club event.

In addition to being a co-owner, Snoop also provides strategic counsel to Triller Fight Club, helping to select fighters and musical acts for the show-stopping events. An entertainment expert who has successfully maneuvered through a range of projects in a variety of different fields, Snoop secured his spot as a fan favorite during Triller’s first sporting event, Tyson vs. Jones.

**HOW TO WATCH THE APRIL 17, 2021, TRILLER FIGHT CLUB PPV EVENT**

TV: Cable, satellite & telco PPV providers, including Xfinity, Spectrum, Contour, DIRECTV & U-Verse TV, Fios, and Optimum (U.S.), as well as leading providers in Canada.

Worldwide Streaming: FITE.TV and all FITE mobile, Smart TV, game controller and OTT apps as well as the event microsite hub: TrillerFightClub.com

[watsupdoc87]

Hahaha fukin McBride putting his hat out. Go on son. Maybe holyfield gasses out or falls over and the clones colloses will be shouting out Lewis for the trifecta

[Ruthless-RKO]

[candyslim]

I do wish these retired boxers would stay retired FFS. Who the hell would want to watch this freakshow, not me.

When you think what Mayweather v McGregor made in terms of money generated it's no wonder we are getting a succession of these ridiculous pantomimes. Can't blame them for chasing easy money it's the fans who perpetuate this bullshit.

[margaret thatcher]

i gotta say im surprised at how good mcbride looks, relatively speaking of course. i woulda expected him to be like 500 pounds now, he looks just like when he was active 10-15 years ago.

and vander is like an ageless wonder of course


don't sleep on this war of teh warriors

[margaret thatcher]

i wonder how much these guys will get for this

[The Gratest]

Its scarily possible that McBride will be able to say he stopped two of the greatest heavies ever.

Iconic moments.

[watsupdoc87]

Its scarily possible that McBride will be able to say he stopped two of the greatest heavies ever.

Iconic moments.

Look at the strutt on big ken. He knows he just shook up the world as we knew it

[Kronkpride]

I hate the word exhibition. Sparring...light sparring? That just sucks.

I have no problem with old dudes fighting. I think evenly matched old dudes would be just as entertaining as watching any other evenly matched people fight. Don't think this one is evenly matched tho. Besides the ref maybe having a shorter leash on the old guys why not let them lace them up and do a real fight? I would be willing to watch those. I can't do any exhibition stuff though. All that says to me is fake fight. I can watch a movie to see that.

If the old guys can pass the medical exams let them fight. Discrimination because of age is BS. If their body is in shape to do it should be the only thing considered besides their desire to fight which should be strongly considered too.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Holyfield-McBride NOT an exhibition

When 58-year-old Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, the only person ever to win the world heavyweight title four times, returns to the ring to fight 47-year-old Kevin McBride on June 5, it will be in a real six-round fight, not an exhibition like the recent Tyson-Jones Jr PPV. All professional boxing rules will apply. Holyfield and McBride will be fighting for the Triller Fight Club Legends Champion Gold Belt, the first of Fight Club’s championship belts.

Holyfield-McBride will join a card that already has the undisputed lightweight title fight between Teófimo López and George Kambosos Jr. The location and times for Triller Fight Club on June 5 will be announced officially in the coming days.

[Enlightened-One]

When you beat a legend, you become a legend

When you beat 2 legends, you are a boxing gawd walking this earth

Big kev is looking to ascend on June 5th

Yeah, I agree!

That's precisely the reason why I feel that Brian Nielsen deserves to be considered as a Hall-of-Famer, due to him having defeated many world champions, such as: James (Bonecrusher) Smith, Jeff Lampkin, Tony Tubbs, Carlos De Leon, Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Orlin Norris and Uriah Grant, as well as him being fairly competitive against all-time-greats like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

[oogiebe]

When you beat a legend, you become a legend

When you beat 2 legends, you are a boxing gawd walking this earth

Big kev is looking to ascend on June 5th

Yeah, I agree!

That's precisely the reason why I feel that Brian Nielsen deserves to be considered as a Hall-of-Famer, due to him having defeated many world champions, such as: James (Bonecrusher) Smith, Jeff Lampkin, Tony Tubbs, Carlos De Leon, Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Orlin Norris and Uriah Grant, as well as him being fairly competitive against all-time-greats like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.