Holyfield-Toney To Be Special 12-Round Heavyweight Bout

Four-Time Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield To Battle Three-Time World Champion James Toney Live On Pay Per View, Saturday, October 4, At Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas

08.07 – The highly anticipated fight between legendary four time heavyweight champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield and current International Boxing Federation (IBF) Cruiserweight Champion James “Lights Out” Toney will be a 12-round heavyweight showdown, SHOWTIME Pay Per View announced today. The two ring warriors will battle live on pay per view, Saturday, October 4, at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The HOLYFIELD - TONEY pay per view telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, and carries a suggested retail price of $44.95. Goossen Tutor Promotions will present the event, which is being distributed on pay per view by Showtime PPV.

“Holyfield-Toney is a premiere heavyweight bout featuring two of the top warriors in boxing,” Dan Goossen said. “This has all the excitement of a championship fight, so it makes sense to have these two great boxers battle it out for 12 rounds.”

Holyfield (38-6-2, 25 KOs), of Atlanta, became the only heavyweight in history to win a world title on four separate occasions when he captured the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz on Aug. 12, 2000, in Las Vegas. Holyfield previously became only the second man following Muhammad Ali to capture the heavyweight crown three times when he stopped Mike Tyson in the 11th round on Nov. 9, 1996.

Known worldwide for his warrior spirit and superior boxing skills, Holyfield is one of the most popular and respected athletes of his era, and has battled every premiere heavyweight including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman and Chris Byrd. He has defeated each of them with the exception of Lewis and Byrd. Holyfield knocked out James “Buster” Douglas in the third round to win the undisputed heavyweight title on Oct. 25, 1990.

Toney (66-4-2, 42 KOs), of Los Angeles, by way of Grand Rapids, Mich., rocked the boxing world on April 2003 when he won the IBF cruiserweight crown over Vassiliy Jirov in Ledyard, Conn. The victory represented Toney’s first world title triumph in nearly nine years after holding world titles at 160 lbs. and 168 lbs. Able to weather the rushes and aggressiveness of Jirov with stinging counterpunches, Toney scored the bout’s lone knockdown in the 12th and final round. Like Holyfield, Toney has taken on many of his era’s most heralded fighters, including Roy Jones Jr., Iran Barkley, Jirov, Montell Griffin, Michael Nunn, Reggie Johnson and Mike McCallum.

Following three successful super middleweight title defenses, Toney lost his championship and unbeaten record (44-0-2 going in) in his 47th bout when he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Jones Jr. on Nov. 18, 1994. Toney has won his past 12 contests, including the dramatic victory over Jirov in his last bout.

Holyfield-Toney will be produced and distributed by SHOWTIME Pay Per View.