Mitt Romney to fight Evander Holyfield in charity boxing event

It may not be Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, but another highly anticipated fight will take place this May when Mitt Romney enters the ring to battle Evander Holyfield in Salt Lake City.

That's right. The former Republican presidential candidate and five-time heavyweight boxing champion are set to square off at a charity fight night event on May 15.

Romney's son Josh Romney confirmed on Monday that his father will participate in the black-tie event in Salt Lake City.

Both men will don full sparring gear and exchange punches in the boxing ring for a lighthearted fight before the night's three fights by professional boxers.

However, the 68-year-old Romney has no delusions about actually winning this contest against Holyfield — who won fights against the likes of George Foreman and Mike Tyson.

“It will either be a very short fight, or I will be knocked unconscious,” Romney told the Salt Lake City Tribune. “It won’t be much of a fight. We’ll both suit up and get in the ring and spar around a little bit.”

The event is raising money for the Utah-based organization CharityVision, which helps doctors in developing countries perform surgeries to restore vision in people with curable blindness.

Josh Romney serves as a volunteer president for CharityVision.

Corporate sponsorships for the event range from $25,000 to $250,000.

Any chance of getting Hillary Clinton and Ronda Rousey on the undercard?

Tyson to present Holyfield during induction into Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame: Report

Mike Tyson will get another chance to chew on the ear of Evander Holyfield when he will present Holyfield at his induction into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame next month.

Tyson, who famously took a bite of his opponent's ear during a 1997 title fight and was disqualified, is sure to lay on the shtick when his most famous opponent is inducted at the Tropicana on Aug. 9.

Since then, the two former heavyweight champions have put the whole ear-biting incident behind them and even spoofed the infamous moment in a Foot Locker commercial (below), when Tyson brings the ear back to Holyfield.



Holyfield is going in with George Foreman and Roberto Duran — a couple of other real characters from boxing past.

Evander Holyfield sparks outrage after 'homophobic' comments on Big Brother UK (VIDEO)

Evander Holyfield sparked a Twitter storm on Sunday night when he called homosexuality a disability and claimed it could be "fixed."

The former four-time heavyweight champion of the world made the comments on "UK Celebrity Big Brother" — during his first week on the British reality show — when he was quizzed by housemate Luisa Zissman about whether any boxers had come out as gay, according to TMZ.

The 51-year-old Holyfield — a deeply religious Christian — cited the bible and said homosexuality is NOT a choice ... but rather something like a "handicap" ... something doctors can fix.

The show's producers probably wished Mike Tyson could bite off the former champ's tongue right then and there — or at least their own ears.

"I think it’s really bad that no-one stands up and says it in the sporting industries. I think it’s good to be open about that because it’s normal," said Zissman.

To which Holyfield replied: "What would be good about it? That ain’t normal."

He went on to say, "It is a choice, come on, that ain’t the way nobody is made.

"If you were born and your leg were turned this way, what do you do, you go to the doctor and get it fixed back right."

Holyfield was later called to the diary room and warned for his comments by the producers who called them inappropriate, to which Holyfield replied he was merely stating his opinion "not meant for anybody else."

Guess he was clueless to the 500 cameras all over the place.

"Before you entered the Big Brother house, the rules regarding unacceptable language and behavior were explained to you," explained Big Brother. "Last night, in a conversation with Luisa, you expressed the view that being gay was not normal and that it could be 'fixed.'"

Holyfield says he understood that his comments could be considered offensive — but never apologizes.

Mike Tyson posts 'Happy New Ears' on Twitter (PHOTO)

Some of Mike Tyson's relatives found these ear-shaped chocolate goodies in a sweet shop and sent a photo to the former heavyweight champion.

Tyson is getting a lot of play from his infamous 1997 ear-chomping fight with Evander Holyfield lately and, after a funny Foot Locker commercial and Broadway show poked fun at the incident, he posted a photo of these edible organs on Twitter with the caption, Happy "New Ears"!!!.

Shouldn't they simply be called Holyfield ears?

Happy "New Ears"!!! pic.twitter.com/IxHsgGDGn3
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) January 1, 2014

Tyson and Holyfield have friendly reunion in supermarket

Former nemeses Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield met up in a Chicago supermarket and went toe-to-toe — almost 16 years since the last time they last met in a grisly boxing match in which Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear — but this time the two former boxing champs only chewed the fat.

The reunited pair were at Jewel-Osco on Chicago's South Side where Holyfield was signing autographs and promoting his new Real Deal barbecue sauce. This time the two foes were all hugs and smiles as they posed for photos together.

It brought back memories of a bygone era (ear-a?) when a Tyson or Holyfield fight was a must-see sporting event.

"I just wanted to see Evander, man," said a beaming Tyson.  "I love Evander.  I'm forever linked with him for the rest of my life."

"I think he was letting people know that he was wrong and what happened, happened," said Holyfield. "He appreciates that I forgave him.  He's forgiven himself. That's how you make adjustments in life."

Friendly words from 46-year-old Tyson — a fighter who once called himself "The Baddest Man On The Planet" — and a once-bitter Holyfield, 50, who didn't reconcile until 2009 on Oprah Winfrey's show — 12 years after the gory 1997 fight.

Tyson was already baring his soul on a two-day stop in Chicago during a tour of his one-man show after a run on Broadway.  In it, Tyson documents his rise and fall throughout his life and boxing career.

"The show is good," said Holyfield, who saw it in Las Vegas.  "The show is his way of coming back."

It was good to see the pair together letting bygones be bygones. You can bet Holyfield was careful not to drip any of his BBQ sauce on any body parts.

Mike Tyson: I want to sing and dance in musicals like 'Billy Madison'

Mike Tyson faced reporters at an investor's forum in Hong Kong Wednesday and told the audience his next goal in life is to be like Billy Elliot.

"I want to dance and sing," said the former heavyweight champ.  "I want to do some dancing and singing musicals."

"I want to be like Billy Madison," said Tyson, apparently confusing the last name of Adam Sandler's man-child character for the boy dancer from the movie and play.  "Remember that show? Anybody see that? Remember he's a boxer.  He turns into a ballet dancer."

The former world heavyweight champion went public with his aspirations while addressing the CLSA Forum.

Tyson has sung in movies, commercials and variety shows all over the world.  Check out YouTube — it's full of them.  He just completed a short run on Broadway with his one-man confessional "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth" directed by fellow Brooklynite Spike Lee to some good reviews.

The fighter — who once called himself "the most brutal and vicious, the most ruthless champion there has ever been" — has apparently turned over a new leaf.

"I don't have the desire to be that guy anymore," Tyson told the audience. He said "that guy" couldn't have the loving relationship he currently has with his family.

The 46-year old Tyson sounded like he believes Billy Elliot — the title character from the musical about a boy who swaps boxing gloves for ballet slippers — could be his alter-ego.

Tyson — who won 44 of his 50 ring victories by knockout and bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear — just wants to put his brutal past behind him.

"I don't want to spread no more of that violence in the air," he said.

Mike Tyson drops air bomb during halftime interview

It's not exactly the most shocking slip of the tongue in the history of celebrity interviews, but you might call Mike Tyson's on-air s---bomb during the New York Knicks halftime show a case of temporary Linsanity.

The former heavyweight champion was being interviewed by MSG Network's Jill Martin at the Knicks-Kings game when he let the four-letter word fly.

Asked by Martin what was the "dumbest money ever spent in his life," Tyson replied:  "Anything I ever had.  Anything I ever had was dumb," before laughing and blurting out "There was some dumb s---."

Tyson, who seemed to catch his verbal gaffe, sheepishly put his hand to the side of his head and moved on.

Other tidbits we found out about Tyson were that he is the proud owner of between 2,500-3,000 pigeons and thinks his hidden talent is singing but will only warble a tune for money.

One of the last questions Martin asked Iron Mike is if he had one life do-over what would it be?

"That ear thing was pretty heavy," he said referring to taking a bite out of Evander Holyfield's ear during their 1997 fight.  "I wish I could do that one over."

""You'd take that back?" asked Martin.

"Yeah," Tyson said.  "At least not his ear."