Sean O’Malley believes the 58-year-old Evander Holyfield is putting his health at a huge risk by returning to the boxing ring to fight a much younger Vitor Belfort.
Holyfield fights against Belfort Saturday, Sep. 11th, and took the fight on short notice to fill in for Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya tested positive for COVID-19 and forced the promoters to scramble to find someone to step in. ‘The Real Deal’ stepped in and this will be his first professional boxing match in 10 years. The former six-time champion is 14 years older than his opponent Vitor Belfort who looks in fantastic fighting shape.
‘Suga’ was on his podcast (TimboSugarShow) discussing the possible long-term effects Holyfield could have by going toe to toe with the 44-year-old Belfort. “He is 58! Dude, he can get knocked out and die. Vitor is Jacked… That’s crazy”
Belfort was a former Light Heavyweight champion and one of the pioneers of the UFC. Belfort is no slouch and although he lost most of his recent fights, he looks in better shape than he has in years. Michael Bisping claims that Belfort is “100% juiced up“. This makes the fight even more dangerous for Holyfield if Vitor is on “the juice”.
The fight was even moved to Florida because that would be on of the only places that would actually give Holyfield a professional bout. Many combat sports fans have been up in arms about ‘The Real Deal’ being able to fight. The Florida commission claimed he was given a license after he passed his medical requirements.
O’Malley has an accurate point by stating that a clean KO could have catastrophic implications on Holyfields long term health.
Do you agree with Sean O’Malley? Should Evander Holyfield’s health be a concern?