Sorel Mizzi Beats Brian Rast in Round 3 of Boxing Match

In the last week of 2015, two heavyweights of the poker world came together for a boxing match to raise money for charity, as well as to determine the outcome of a substantial private wager agreed between the two men. In the one corner was Brian Rast, a 34 year old pro with $16,313,290 in tournament winnings, while in the other was 29 year old Sorel Mizzi with $11,148,822 in winnings to his name.
The boxing event was held at the Syndicate Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, and was also available for live viewing via Poker Central. Pre-fight, Sorel Mizzi may have been the shorter of the two men, but he had the advantage of being more muscular and in better shape than his opponent. Mizzi was subsequently able to use his physique to better effect, and while the fight was scheduled for a maximum of four rounds, in the end three rounds is all it would take before Rast had been knocked down a total of five times and the referee decided to call it a night.
While some critics and aficionados rued the fact it hadn’t been a closer match, in the end Mizzi landed some powerful blows to Rast, which subsequently took its toll on his opponent’s leg, thus rendering him a much easier target for Mizzi to hit. Nevertheless, its fair to say that neither man would have had any amateur boxer quaking in his boots after their display.
That being said, the two men showed great showmanship and sportsmanship during and after the fight, with Mizzi thanking the audience and praising Rast’s spirit, while Rast likewise heaped praised on Mizzi, later tweeting:
“Congratulations @sorelmizzi on the victory! He straight up out-brawled me and I didn’t have an answer for it. Thank you to all the judges and ref who donated their time – and to all the people who came out to support the event. #respect”.
The fight between Mizzi and Rast also managed to collect $8,500 for ‘Raising for Effective Giving’ (REG), which is a popular charity choice for many top poker pros.