Vitor Belfort is defending his recent TKO win over an aging Evander Holyfield in a boxing match staged last month on behalf of Triller Fight Club.
Holyfield, who stepped in on a week’s notice to replace Oscar De La Hoya, looked absolutely washed in his matchup with “Phenom.” The former world heavyweight champion is obviously one of the best boxers of all time, but he’s 58 years old and had not competed in over 10 years before the fight.
It was a grotesque display of matchmaking to say the least, which is why the PPV card was moved from California to Florida after a refusal to sanction the bout.
Belfort, who stepped away from UFC back in 2018, is certainly no spry chicken. But he’s much younger than Holyfield, has been more active over the past decade than Holyfield, and had been training for months for his matchup with De La Hoya. It seemed unfair to watch “Phenom” batter Holyfield the way he did.
However, as lopsided as the Triller boxing fight looked Belfort doesn’t believe it was an egregious matchup. Instead, the former UFC champion is defending his main event showcase with Holyfield and the events that occurred in the ring.
“He (Holyfield) tried to rip my head off, he knocked himself out at one point and got such a cross that he fell to the canvas by himself,” Belfort told AG Fight. “If I don’t dodge my head would be rolling on the floor. Then people criticize that I was very, very roasted. I’m not worried about that. I beat the most powerful heavyweight in history, who beat Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, the ‘haters’ will be there to criticize you. If I fight a guy over 50 is it worth it? If I win they will criticize. The animal was too strong, he is a horse and he was boxing well and I was very precise. Nobody talks about my accuracy, how good I was. They talk about how bad he was. He wasn’t bad, I demolished him.”
“I was cautious, I started slowly, but when he came up with it, I had my time,” added Belfort. “When you smell blood, it’s time to hunt. It would be unnecessary (if the referee lets it go on longer), given his age. He took a lot of uppercut blow to the chin. The first one got really strong. Then there were other blows. But as many people think they are the other’s head, so let it die. It’s part of it.”
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