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Russian boxing promoter says chances of Tyson-Holyfield bout small

Last year some media reports cited Ryabinsky, who is known to arrange the Klitschko-Povetkin fight, as saying that he mulled a possibility of staging a bout between the two boxing icons in Moscow

© AP/Charlie Arbogast

MOSCOW, January 31. /ITAR-TASS/. Chances of squaring off legendary heavyweights Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield in an exhibition bout are extremely small, Andrei Ryabinsky, the head of a Russian promotional group, World Boxing, said on Friday.

Last year some media reports cited Ryabinsky, who is known to arrange in 2013 the fight of WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko and WBA “regular” champion Alexander Povetkin, as saying that he mulled a possibility of staging a bout between the two American boxing icons in Moscow.

“Their reaction to the idea was somewhat inert,” Ryabinsky said. “Yes, we could have talked about it, but it all went only as far as the talks concern.”

Forty-seven-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) has not stepped inside the boxing ring since 2005, while 51-year-old Holyfield (44-10, 29 KOs, 2 Draws) last fought in 2011. They squared off twice during their professional boxing career, namely in 1996 and 1997.

Both clashes are remembered as being among the most famous matches of all time, and the last encounter is particularly known after Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear.

Speaking further at a news conference in Moscow, Ryabinsky added that the ranking status of bouts was not that important to him and he was rather interested in staging as many fights as possible.

“The level (of fights) does not interest me as I want to have many different and interesting events,” he said. “Fights like Klitschko-Povetkin usually take place once in ten years if you deal with them. This is a bit boring.”

The fight between Klitschko and Povetkin took place in the Russian capital last October and, according to boxing media reports, Ryabinsky’s bid for the bout stood at over $23.3 million.

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