New York, NY – July 10, 2017 – Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Sports & Entertainment is bringing its Real Deal Championship Boxing series to New York City. The first installment is set to take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom, on Friday, August 11th, leading into the city’s Dominican Day weekend, as part of a multi-fight agreement with the Manhattan Center Studios, Inc.
The televised portion of the event will be live on CBS Sports Network, and looks to carry on the momentum of the series’ inaugural event by pitting some of the sport’s rising contenders against one another in highly competitive and evenly matched bouts. The undercard, which will be live-streamed in its entirety on www.therealdealboxing.com, is expected to feature young, local talent who have been yearning for the opportunity to fight in their hometown since the state passed outrageous insurance regulations, essentially placing an insurmountable barrier on grassroots boxing in New York. This will be the first professional boxing event to take place in a Manhattan venue other than a Madison Square Garden property in almost 18 months.
“The main reason I got into promoting was to provide opportunities for today’s young fighters. Being able to bring our Real Deal Championship Boxing series to one of the greatest cities in the world shows the fighters and the fans that our company is the Real Deal,” said four-time world heavyweight champion and recent International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Evander Holyfield. “Our company is dedicated to building back the New York boxing scene and giving our fighters a chance to perform in front of their friends and families.”
“We are very grateful to our partners at the Manhattan Center who have worked diligently with us to structure a multi-fight deal with their properties. August 11 will be a great night of boxing and we hope the fans come out to show their support. It’s no secret that New York has become a very difficult place to run a successful promotion given the state’s new regulations to improve health and safety,” said Eric Bentley, Chief Operating Officer of Real Deal Sports & Entertainment and the former Director of Boxing at the New York State Athletic Commission.
“It should be noted that difficult does not mean impossible,” Bentley continued. “We are also taking the health and safety initiative into our own hands by assembling an in-house medical team to observe our fighters and provide them with consistent medical oversight throughout their careers. Most of these athletes risk their lives without proper health coverage, fighting in different states, each with their own medical standards and requirements, that often have inconsistent philosophies on what is or isn’t contraindicative to boxing. We are looking to change that and set a new standard in the sport. This is just the first step in how we will bring boxing back to New York and how Real Deal Sports & Entertainment will make its mark in the industry.”
VENUM and BEAUTY N THE BOX are proud sponsors of Real Deal Sports & Entertainment.
