Promoter Cancels Holyfield-Ruiz WBA Title Fight in China

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 ◆ Promoter Cancels Holyfield-Ruiz WBA Title Fight in China

The delayed WBA heavyweight title fight between Evander Holyfield and champion John Ruiz will not be held in China anymore as it was re-scheduled on November 25, said American boxing promoter Don King on Wednesday. The decision was made by HBO, who was contracted to televise the fight for 5 million US dollars, and agreed by Don King in the wake of the international travel warning issued by the US state department after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "I support HBO and the State Department. What they say I will do," said Don King. "I am very disappointed, and hopefully I'll put a fight on there in the future," he said, adding that "we got a crisis at hand, a war on terrorism and I wouldn't ever jeopardize any American life for the benefit of a promotion." The fight was postponed from the original date of August 5/6 to November 24/25 due to a neck injury to Ruiz, and a group of some 100 people were expected to travel to China for the title bout. However, HBO sports president Ross Greenburg said that "we decided the prudent course was to not travel overseas at this time and we told Don that we would like to telecast the fight on November 24 from a US site."