LEGENDARY American boxer Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield has priced himself out of a defence of his WBF heavyweight belt in a South African boxing ring.
Rodney Berman, who held talks with Holyfield's representatives about the proposed bout that was to take place at Emperors Palace in November, revealed that the 48-year-old veteran demanded astronomical figures.
"Holyfield really made an outcast of himself. He demanded a minimum of $500,000 (R3,3 million). We would have loved to bring him here but there is no way we can afford such an amount of money," Berman said. "I'm always willing to pay a fair price but this is way too much for me."
"I'm sure that people would have loved to see him here. He was phenomenal," added Berman, who brought Lennox Lewis, another legend, to defend his WBC, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles against Hasim Rahman.
Rahman, a 100-1 underdog for the first-ever heavyweight title fight of that magnitude in South Africa, stopped Lewis in the fifth round at Carnival City in Brakpan on April 22 2001.
It remains unclear if former IBF and WBF champion Francois Botha would still pursue Holyfield to come to South Africa. Botha announced last month that his company had signed with Holyfield to defend against him at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban before the end of this year.
Holyfield too rich for SA
LEGENDARY American boxer Evander "Real Deal" Holyfield has priced himself out of a defence of his WBF heavyweight belt in a South African boxing ring.
Rodney Berman, who held talks with Holyfield's representatives about the proposed bout that was to take place at Emperors Palace in November, revealed that the 48-year-old veteran demanded astronomical figures.
"Holyfield really made an outcast of himself. He demanded a minimum of $500,000 (R3,3 million). We would have loved to bring him here but there is no way we can afford such an amount of money," Berman said. "I'm always willing to pay a fair price but this is way too much for me."
"I'm sure that people would have loved to see him here. He was phenomenal," added Berman, who brought Lennox Lewis, another legend, to defend his WBC, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles against Hasim Rahman.
Rahman, a 100-1 underdog for the first-ever heavyweight title fight of that magnitude in South Africa, stopped Lewis in the fifth round at Carnival City in Brakpan on April 22 2001.
It remains unclear if former IBF and WBF champion Francois Botha would still pursue Holyfield to come to South Africa. Botha announced last month that his company had signed with Holyfield to defend against him at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban before the end of this year.
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