Report: De La Hoya out due to Covid, Holyfield to fight Belfort

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

It looks like Vitor Belfort has a new opponent for September 11th, and the bout might be moved to Florida. All of Oscar De La Hoya’s promotional work for his September 11th bout with V…


Evander Holyfield Statue Unveiled at State Farm Arena
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

It looks like Vitor Belfort has a new opponent for September 11th, and the bout might be moved to Florida.

All of Oscar De La Hoya’s promotional work for his September 11th bout with Vitor Belfort appears to be out the window. TMZ is reporting that Oscar has tested positive for Covid-19, and cannot compete in the fight.

But, they have come up with a pretty decent replacement for him – former heavyweight champion of the world, Evander Holyfield.

The 58-year-old Holyfield hasn’t fought in a decade, but has been tied to many potential opponents lately, such as Belfort and Mike Tyson. Belfort, 44, hasn’t competed in combat sports since a 2018 loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 224.

One interesting wrinkle to all this according to the article is that the bout needs to be approved by the California State Athletic Commission to go ahead in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But if the CSAC won’t approve it, they will move the bout to Florida and still go forward with it on that date.

Triller hasn’t issued an official statement in regards to the changes as of yet, but I’m guessing there will be one soon.