Evander Holyfield vs Vitor Belfort: The retired man won’t take it out

On the night of September 12, two well-deserved veterans return to the ring. Evander Holyfield will fight Vitor Belfort in an 8 round 2-minute boxing rules bout.

Former world champion Evander Holyfield enters the fight on super short notice, just one week away. Oscar de la Hoya, originally scheduled to fight Belfort, has fallen ill with a coronavirus. And Holyfield just had his fight with Mike Tyson, Kevin McBride, and Jake Paul snapped up.

There’s no getting away from it, and we will still be wiping away when we watch Holyfield fight Belfort:

But now everyone fights, bloggers and retired men alike. Holyfield decided not to stay away from the global trend and wanted to participate in this flash mob. The only problem is that he’s already 58 years old, and that’s a real problem, no matter who says what. Yes, he looks fantastic for his age, but we don’t know how his body will react if at least one bomb from Belfort flies in.

Fans are burying the former champion in advance, but the bookies have the opposite opinion. Nobody knows anything. The fight will show. Comparing Holyfield in his current state and Holyfield from thirty years ago is a thing of the past.

As for Holyfield, he was a contender for Vitor more than once before, and he’s a big guy, a huge guy. I’ve even become friends with him over the last few years, he’s a decent man, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him. At first, we had one Hallofamer in our rivals, and now literally, we have a Hallofamer of a bigger size, so it’s a real challenge for us, plus Holyfield manages to keep himself in good shape, which I can’t help but admire. I’m not even entirely sure what to expect. I’ve seen footage of him training with John David Jackson. I know he’s been keeping up his fighting form all along and wanted to do the fight. It will be even more interesting than it could be with Oscar because Holyfield is so much bigger than Vitor. We have been preparing for Oscar, who moves well around the ring, learning how to cut corners effectively, and with Holyfield, it will be a more dangerous and open fight. And I’m sure his punching isn’t going anywhere, so we’ll see how we deal with that.

Derik Santos, trainer of former UFC champion Vitor Belfort

There’s more to be said for Belfort. He ended his sporting career relatively recently (in 2018) and distinguished himself in the UFC with his knockout power. He has 26 MMA wins, 18 KOs.

Yes, he’s 44, but what age is that for a heavyweight.

I don’t care if he’s 100 years old. He’s still the same Evander Holyfield. He’s a legendary fighter who is still dangerous in the ring. I’m looking forward to our fight. But I’m still looking forward to Oscar De La Hoya. I need you, buddy. We need to fight.

Vitor Belfort

I hope Evander crushed him. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not going to parse this fight in terms of technique. God knows what Belfort has been doing. We know he’s got good boxing and quick hands. We know he can throw a punch. Evander Holyfield is a big dude... I hope he rattles Belfort. It’s going to be an unbelievable pleasure for me. I don’t care what you say, he was on steroids, and he beat me. Generally, I have no negativity towards those who have beaten me in the past, and I wish them all the best... But he’s just a piece of crap. So I don’t care... I hope Evander takes him down.

Michael Bisping

But we don’t believe Bisping. Belfort knocked him out once, so much so that he can’t see Michael’s eye to this day. Of course, he’s got nothing but negative feelings about him.

The only advantage Holyfield has is that he’s noticeably bigger and heavier, and how much that helps him, again, we don’t know. The fight will last 8 rounds, and the veteran’s cardio is not endless. The big gloves approved by the organisers can also be seen in his favour, but it seems to me that this will only delay the verdict. I certainly won’t bet on Evander, as the bookies advise. My choice is Vitor Belfort’s win for 1.69.