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This new genre of never-before-seen boxing fights – fights between celebrities, legends and social media influencers – has been one of the most popular things in combat sports over the past year or so. Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. set the stage in November, and the trend has continued to gain momentum since then. Despite other significant fights between some of the best fighters in the sport, the Floyd Mayweather vs.Logan Paul exhibit is the biggest pay-per-view boxing event of 2021 to date. Last month’s Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley could end up being the second biggest.
But if people are to keep spending their hard earned money on buying these shows, there has to be a proper reward. That was missing on Saturday night with the unfortunate fight and end between Vitor Belfort and Evander Holyfield under the Triller Fight Club banner in Hollywood, Florida. Belfort picked up a TKO victory in the first round after Holyfield landed just one punch.
Simply, and with all due respect to a legendary boxer, Holyfield, 58, shouldn’t have been in the ring. He arrived on just one week’s notice after Belfort’s original opponent Oscar De La Hoya was hospitalized with COVID-19. The fight was originally scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, but the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) would not approve Belfort against Holyfield, so the entire event was moved to Florida and a more accessible commission.
“I didn’t agree with the game due to various regulatory factors, and we didn’t have enough time to [Holyfield] go through an extensive licensing process, ”said Andy Foster, CSAC Executive Director.
De La Hoya v Belfort was at the limit of the regulation of combat sports. Both men were in the same age bracket – De La Hoya is 48 and Belfort 44 – and De La Hoya was a phenomenal boxer before his retirement in 2008. Belfort is an MMA fighter who is tied for the greatest. number of knockouts in UFC history. but has no recent experience in the square circle. The only thing anyone who has followed Belfort’s career knows about him is that he has hand speed and he hits in his shots.
But Holyfield? Of course, he looked ragged from a pure appearance standpoint, especially for his age. But that’s where the positive optics ended. The buzz this week in South Florida was less about fighting and more about Holyfield struggling in interviews and looking like a shell of his amazing old self in public practice.
Holyfield wasn’t sandbagging in that training session, and what a lot of people thought would happen on Saturday night did.
At the start of the first round, the only tri-belt era boxer to become an undisputed champion in two divisions slipped on an attempted left hook and fell down the apron, between the bottom two ropes. It was difficult to watch. Belfort followed with a few bursts of punches, marking a knockdown.
Holyfield stood up, but he was doing little more than eating punches (some on his gloves). Fortunately, referee Samuel Burgos intervened. Holyfield argued it was a premature shutdown, when most observers probably thought it should have been over sooner.
Holyfield appeared well afterwards during an interview with the broadcast crew; but on a negative note he said he wanted to fight again and was still interested in a rematch with Mike Tyson.
At some point, someone has to step in and advise against it. No one wants to tell an adult that they can’t make a living, but boxing is not a game. There are real and lasting ramifications, and everyone involved is lucky that Belfort vs. was not worse. This may not be the case next time.
Belfort called out Jake Paul in his post-fight interview, with Triller offering a $ 30 million win-win prize. UFC all-time great Anderson Silva likely has a big paycheck ahead of him after his devastating knockout of fellow MMA legend Tito Ortiz on Saturday’s undercard.
It’s all well and good. There is nothing wrong with fighters being paid to take on opponents of similar level and size. As long as people are willing to pay for them, these events will continue. But there is simply no good reason for a man of nearly 60 to receive punches in the head of a younger, faster and more explosive opponent.
Everyone involved – commissions, promoters, coaches and fighters themselves – must exercise discretion as we move forward, as combat sports as we know them could be at stake.
All that has to happen is for a fighter to be seriously injured – or worse – in one of these novelty clashes and the consequences could lead to all combat sports facing judgment.
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