In July, four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will participate in a fund-raising boxing match in Ethiopia to raise money for HIV/AIDS charities, Reuters reports. He will square off against local fighter Sammy Retta in a match that organizers expect to raise between $5 million and $10 million.
“I continue to strive to be the very best, but what got me to come here is the AIDS,” Holyfield told reporters May 19 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “If we don’t find a cure to this, we’ll be extinct.”
According to the article, a substantial portion of the money raised will benefit HIV/AIDS programs, but Everton Boland, chief executive of fight promoters Golden Globe, declined to comment on the fighters’ purses.
“If you want to talk about money, we ain’t up to that part yet,” Boland told Reuters. “Ain’t no boxer fighting for free.”
While an HIV/AIDS group established by African first ladies has already been chosen as a beneficiary, fight organizers say they are considering others.
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