In response to the WBF's below press release, Sauerland Event's General Manager, Chris Meyers, said he had no idea the WBF had anything to do with former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. The WBF circulated a press release, which detailed their refusal to sanction Holyfield's upcoming fight with Brian Nielsen.

“Funny that they refused it. I didn’t know that they have something to do with Holyfield. We only work with the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO,” Meyer said. 

The five-men Championship Committee of the World Boxing Federation, after consideration of all arguments, has decided against sanctioning the proposed second title defense of its world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield against Denmark’s Brian Nielsen. The main reason is that 46-year-old Nielsen, while sporting a glossy record of (64-2, 43 KOs) has been out of the ring for almost a decade. The Holyfield vs Nielsen fight is scheduled for May 7 in Copenhagen, Denmark and will be promoted by Sauerland Event.