Boxing champ Holyfield shoots PSA in Providence
By Matt Blanchette
@mattblanchette
With a squirt of water here and there Evander Holyfield gets ready to finish up a public service announcement to promote getting checked for prostate cancer.
“That’s a big point. Me getting checked. Someone has to be the example,” the champ said.
A providence native and life–long boxing fan, CEO of local communications firm (add)ventures Steve Rosa said he knew he had to get Holyfield involved in this particular PSA.
“We knew we had to be bold. We knew we needed to be strong and we needed to show that tough men fight,” Rosa said.
“That’s the reason why they chose me. The fact of the matter is, who can be as macho as me?” Holyfield joked.
The spot was filmed at local legend Gary Tiger Boletto’s gym, where a fight posted from Holyfield’s still hangs.
Nearly one in seven men get prostate cancer and African-American men nationwide die at double the rate as Caucasian men.
But the champ says all men should get checked.
“The procedure today is a lot simpler than it used to be. You have to get over the ego thing. The whole I am not going to let someone defile me. When this can save lives,” Holyfield said.
More info from (add)ventures:
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer among men, affecting a staggering one in seven men in htthe United States. Studies point to several factors that could influence an individual’s chance of developing prostate cancer including age, race and family history. Among the reasons that prompted Team Holyfield to champion prostate cancer awareness is the fact that African-American men are 1.6 times more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasian men, and 2.4 times more likely to die from the disease.
“When prostate cancer is detected early enough, it is 100 percent treatable,” said Barbara J. Parsky, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. “Getting regularly checked for prostate cancer is a surefire way to detect it early enough to offer all men more treatment options with potentially fewer side effects than if prostate cancer remains undetected or found at a later stage. We can’t thank Evander enough for lending his voice, influence and passion to raise awareness about this disease and the benefit of early detection.”
Since hanging up his gloves in 2011, Holyfield has dedicated himself to doing service-based work that reflects his values and strong faith, which led him to establish Team Holyfield. Team Holyfield’s mission is to create and sustain relationships with individuals, companies and organizations that support altruism, community relations and humanitarian efforts and reflects Holyfield’s core values of “faith, family, foundation and future.” Holyfield is particularly interested in supporting initiatives that affect the African-American community. Prostate cancer is one such initiative.
“We want to tell people to spread the word and encourage their fathers, brothers, sons and friends to get checked for prostate cancer,” said Holyfield. “This is an issue that affects all men and is in line with our mission to partner with incredible organizations and invest in their important work. I’m honored to go the distance for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Together, we can spread the word and hopefully knock out prostate cancer for good.”
Upon learning of Team Holyfield’s interest in the cause, (add)ventures President and CEO >Steve Rosa conceptualized a national awareness campaign around prostate cancer with the donation of (add)ventures’ public service announcement effort as part of his firm’s corporate philanthropy program–(add)love.
“I grew up diagonally across the street from live boxing at Manny Almeida’s Ringside Tap in Fox Point so I know Providence’s rich boxing tradition well,” said Rosa. “I remember the stories of champions like Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis andRocky Marciano coming to my neighborhood so it makes me proud to bring another legendary champion to Providence — especially for such an important cause. Evander Holyfield is truly ‘The Real Deal’ in the ring and in life. Prostate cancer has attacked family and friends alike. I was happy to have our firm join Team Holyfield and the Prostate Cancer Foundation in this fight. Any fight is winnable with a champ like Evander in your corner.”
