Tyson, Holyfield Sign to Fight

Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield will meet June 18 in Atlantic City, Las Vegas or Tokyo in what is projected as the richest prize fight in history, it was announced Tuesday night.

Contracts sealing the bout were signed at the end of a five-hour meeting at the Las Vegas Hilton at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The long-awaited fight matches two unbeaten heavyweights for a pay-per-view television bout structured to earn Tyson between $22 and $25 million. Holyfield will receive a guaranteed $11 million.

“It’s roughly a two-thirds/one-third split, with Evander getting a guaranteed $11 million, plus percentages of the net profits of the telecast,” said Kathy Duva of Main Events, Inc., the West Patterson, N.J., firm that promotes Holyfield’s fights. Her husband, Dan Duva, is Holyfield’s promoter.

“Tyson will get $22 million to $25 million, plus the upside on the pay-per-view.”

In Las Vegas Tuesday night, Dan Duva said that Donald Trump, who has first refusal rights to the fight, was notified of the signing. It’s expected Trump will have to pay between $11 million and $12 million as a site fee to host the fight at one of his Atlantic City hotels.

If Trump passes, Caesars Palace and the Mirage in Las Vegas and Japanese interests are expected to bid for the fight.

Tyson, 23, and confidant Don King leave for Tokyo Monday for a Feb. 10 fight with Buster Douglas.

Tyson has been the undisputed heavyweight champion since Aug. 1, 1987, when he added Tony Tucker’s International Boxing Federation championship to two others. He is 37-0.

Holyfield, 26, is 23-0. He was the undisputed cruiserweight champion before moving up to the heavyweight division 18 months ago.

In his last bout, against Alex Stewart last November, he had an unexpectedly difficult time before the bout was stopped in the eighth round because of Stewart’s cuts.

“Evander told Dan that he didn’t want any other fights until he got Tyson, that he couldn’t focus on anyone but Tyson,” Kathy Duva said.

Tyson’s last activity was a one-round knockout of Carl Williams last July 21.