After getting kicked out of the state of New Jersey, former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia has found a new site to make his professional boxing debut against Ray Mercer. Adrenaline III will now hold their hybrid boxing/MMA event at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Adrenaline owner and Sylvia’s manager, Monte Cox, confirmed that the six-round heavyweight boxing match has been rescheduled for the 17,000-seat arena on June 13th.
Cox has been pulling double-duty the last couple of days after receiving word that the New Jersey Athletic Commission wouldn’t sanction the boxing fight. Alabama does not have a regulatory body to oversee the fight.
Sylvia hasn’t fought an MMA bout since he was humiliated in the 1stRound against WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at “Affliction: Banned” last July.
The 47-year-old Mercer holds a 36-7-1 professional boxing record, which includes a loss to Wladimir Klitschko in a WBO heavyweight title bout in 2002. He was recently in the spotlight after losing an exhibition MMA bout to street fighting sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson in 2007.