EVANDER HOLYFIELD RETURNS TO THE RING AT 58 AGAINST FORMER UFC CHAMPION VITOR BELFORT IN AN EIGHT-ROUND PAY-PER-VIEW BOUT SATURDAY IN HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA.
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EVANDER HOLYFIELD (44-10-2, 29 KOs)
VS. VITOR BELFORT (1-0, 1 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 11
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (featured fights)
- Where: Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood, Fla.
- TV/Stream: Pay-per-view
- Cost: $49.99
- Division: Heavyweight (eight two-minute rounds)
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Holyfield 1½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Andy Vences vs. Jono Carroll, junior lightweights; Anderson Silva vs. Tito Ortiz, cruiserweights
- Prediction: Holyfield KO 7
- Background: Oscar De La Hoya, 48, was scheduled to fight Vitor Belfort in Los Angeles but had to pull out after testing positive for COVID-19. In stepped 58-year-old former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, who has been angling for a comeback fight over the past few years and was targeted by Belfort. Holyfield last fought in May 2011, when he stopped Brian Nielsen in 10 rounds. He was always known for his fitness but there is no telling how a man nearing his 59th birthday will perform in the ring, even one of the best fighters of his generation. That said, he’ll have a distinct advantage over Belfort in terms of experience. The 44-year-old former UFC champion has taken part in one boxing match, a first-round knockout in 2006. And Holyfield presumably will be significant bigger than Belfort. Holyfield weighed 226 for the Nielsen fight. Belfort and De La Hoya had agreed to a 185-pound weight limit, although Belfort probably will come in well over 185 without restrictions. The fight was moved to Florida after California authorities refused to sanction the bout.
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