Evander Holyfield Fight Sponsored by Mansion

2006 August 19, Jonny Vincent

Following the recent trend of online gaming companies sponsoring sporting teams and events, Mansion (specifically MansionPoker.net) have thrown their hat into the ring, signing up to be the title sponsor of yesterday's Evander Holyfield fight.

The recent retirement of the boxing's big names like Holyfield and George Foreman combined with the demise of Mike Tyson has meant that the heavyweight division has been missing their biggest drawcards of late. Evander Holyfield's comeback match drew a lot of interest as a result.

Holyfield had been out of boxing for some time, but showed glimpses of his heyday as he put his opponent (Jeremy Bates) away in only two rounds.

"I'm really excited to finally get back in the ring healthy and ready to fight," said Holyfield. "After three disappointing fights with a nagging shoulder injury, I took time to let my body heal and with proper training I am now 100% and ready to go".

David Kinsman, Mansion's Chief Operating Officer, had this to say about the sponsorship deal: "Our continued exploration of sports sponsorships demonstrates our respect for the sporting ideal, and we understand that poker players are by their nature equally fanatical about sports of all sorts."

Mansion also recently announced their sponsorship of English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur, whilst 888.com are heavily involved in sports sponsorship, agreeing to recent partnerships with English Premier League team Middlesbrough, French Ligue 1 team Toulouse and Spanish Primera Liga club Sevilla FC.