New York City (November 30, 2021) Triller announced today that #2 Ranked Heavyweight Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter II, (20-1-1, 14 KOs), of Las Vegas, NV has been added to the Thursday, December 2 ‘Night of Heavyweights’ card against heavy-handed southpaw veteran Jerry ‘Slugger’ Forrest, (26-4-1, 20 KOs), of Newport News, VA. Hunter vs. Forrest is the new ten-round main event at the TrillerVerz IV professional boxing card at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City followed by an iconic VERZUZ battle between music legends Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia from the world-famous Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, CA.
This Thursday’s TrillerVerz IV will be broadcast exclusively on TrillerFightClub.com and FITE starting at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT through the TrillerVerz subscription package priced at $2.99 per month.
TrillerVerz, successfully bringing together first-class professional boxing with iconic VERZUZ battles, is produced by the award-winning Nigel Lythgoe, the Triller Fight Club visionary in addition to the producer and creative force behind American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
The Hammerstein Ballroom at Manhattan Center is located at 311 W. 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue’s. Advance tickets priced at $200, $125, $75 and $45 are now on-sale and may be purchased online at Ticketmaster / Triller Fight Club. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. ET with the first bell at 5:45 p.m. ET. Following the fights at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT, the TrillerVerz IV broadcast will switch to Los Angeles for the VERZUZ battle.
Advance tickets starting at $39.50 for the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony / Three 6 Mafia VERZUZ battle may be purchased through LIVE NATION. The Hollywood Palladium is located at 6215 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. PT.
World ranked #2 by the World Boxing Association, Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter II returns to New York City after a fifth-round knockout of Mike Wilson on August 3, 2021. Since turning professional eight years ago, Hunter’s highly successful career in the professional ranks includes victories over top contenders Sergey Kuzmin, Aleksandr Ustinov, Martin Bakole, Isiah Thomas and Iago Kiladze. He also fought to a controversially scored draw with former heavyweight world champion Alexander Povetkin in 2019 with his only loss coming in 2017 at cruiserweight to current Unified Heavyweight World Champion Oleksandr Usyk.
A professional for nine years, southpaw Jerry ‘Slugger’ Forrest hits the ring against Hunter following a controversially scored majority draw against world ranked and undefeated Zhilei Zhang on February 27, 2021 in Miami, FL. Forrest has also competed in hard fought ten-round battles with world ranked heavyweights Carlos Takam and Jermaine Franklin over the last two years.
The ten-round fight replaces Andrey Fedesov vs. Junior Wright after Fedesov suffered a training injury.
Co-featured at ‘Night of Heavyweights’ in a scheduled ten-rounder of UNDEFEATED Contenders, ‘Son of a Legend’, knockout artist Trey Lippe-Morrison, (18-0, 17 KOs), of Tulsa, OK faces former NFL Linebacker, Mike Balogun, (17-0, 13 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, MD. Well-known in the sport as the son of former Heavyweight World Champion Tommy Morrison, Lippe-Morrison, popular for his stunning knockouts, has built a huge following since turning professional in 2014. On August 14, 2021, Lippe-Morrison saw his most recent action, a dominant victory over Don Haynesworth. A college football standout for the Oklahoma Sooners before playing for six teams in the NFL, Balogun also turned professional in 2014. In his first start this year, he knocked out Keith Barr on April 10, 2021 in Vero Beach, FL.
In a Special Attraction ten-round battle also featuring UNDEFEATED Contenders, Cassius ‘C.O.G.’Chaney, (21-0, 14 KOs), of New London, CT clashes with Bronx, NY native ‘Gentleman’ George Arias, (16-0, 7 KOs). A college basketball player at the University of New Haven before turning to professional boxing, Chaney returns to action succeeding a dominant ten-round decision over fellow contender Shawndell Winters on August 14, 2021 in Worcester, MA. On November 27, 2019, Chaney won the vacant World Boxing Council United States title with a third-round stoppage of Nick Jones. A native of the Dominican Republic, Arias hits the ring coming off a unanimous decision win over Joel Caudle on February 17, 2021. Prior to that victory, Arias defeated fellow undefeated prospect Gabriel Hernandez on October 24, 2019.
Just added in a six-round heavyweight fight, UNDEFEATED and heralded prospect Isaac Gutierrez, (12-0-1, 10 KOs), of Mexico City, Mexico faces veteran Joe ‘Louis’ Jones, (12-4, 9 KOs), of Jersey, City, NJ. The 28-year-old Gutierrez compiled 220 amateur victories prior to turning professional in 2011. Standing 6’2” tall and weighing 230lb., the heavy-handed Gutierrez has knocked out his last six opponents and will be making his highly anticipated United States debut this Thursday. Looking to play the role of spoiler, the 26-year-old Jones returns after a third-round knockout of Dhafir Smith on July 24, 2021. Jones had also faced a number of top contenders over his eight years as a professional including Joey Dawejko, Efetobor Apochi and Richard Rivera.
Rounding out the exciting five bout card, in a six-round light heavyweight bout, UNDEFEATED top prospect Frederic ‘The French Revolution’ Julan, (12-0, 10 KOs), of Brooklyn, NY faces promising prospect Khainell Wheeler, (5-1, 5KO’s), of Bethlehem, PA. Julan hits the ring following a second-round knockout of Fidel Monterrosa Munoz on January 25, 2020. Wheeler enters the battle following a show stopping first-round knockout of Vincent Baccus on June 5, 2021 in Philadelphia, PA.
TrillerVerz IV is the fourth event in the TrillerVerz series with the first three events each garnering over 5,000,000 unique viewers. TrillerVerz III saw a massive crowd at Barclays Center on October 16 witness an extraordinary VERZUZ battle between Brooklyn based music legends Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One which followed a world class professional boxing card headlined by a sensational knockout performance from Brooklyn’s Cletus ‘The Hebrew Hammer’ Seldin.
Formed in Cleveland, OH and an iconic American hip hop group for almost three decades, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have sold millions of records through their ten-record discography. Their acclaimed career includes Grammy Awards, Soul Train Awards and American Music Awards.
Originating in Memphis, TN in 1991, Three 6 Mafia emerged as a horror themed hip-hop music group which would carry them to mainstream success. Releasing nine records, one of the group’s biggest hits, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” won an Academy Award in 2006 for its inclusion in the movie ‘Hustle and Flow.”
Triller Fight Club is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its extraordinary launch on November 28, 2020 which shook up the sports and entertainment world as Boxing Legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones battled in Los Angeles, CA on a Pay-Per-View broadcast which garnered 1,600,000 PPV buys.
