Alarm bells are ringing around Evander Holyfield’s return to the ring after vision of the boxing veteran on the pads raised concern.
Holyfield, who’ll turn 59 next month, will fight MMA star Vitor Belfort,44, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida on Sunday (AEST) after former boxing great Oscar De La Hoya was forced to withdraw after testing positive to COVID-19.
However, a clip of the former world champion training ahead of the bout has reverberated around the combat sports world, with several leading voices questioning how the fight great was allowed to enter the ring.
MMA reporter Ariel Helwani responded to vision of Holyfield sparring at a media event to promote the upcoming bout by tweeting: “This makes me uncomfortable.”
The fight was originally scheduled to take place in Los Angeles but it was moved to Florida after California boxing authorities refused to sanction the fight.
Broadcaster Adam Catterall referenced Evander Holyfield’s 2004 defeat to Larry Donald, when New York boxing authorities ruled he could no longer compete in the state barred because of “poor performance and diminished skills”.
“17 years later, Florida have just agreed to regulate him in a pro fight. Disgrace,” Catterall added on social media.
Boxer Enzo Maccarinelli tweeted: “So Holyfield vs Belfort has been sanctioned as a pro bout that’s bad enough but what’s worse an athletic committee has given Holyfield a pro licence at 60 f—ing disgusting behaviour.”
The official Twitter account for boxing site Mortal Kombat added: “How are they going to let Holyfield box …”
Holyfield hasn’t fought since 2011, but had signed to fight Kevin McBride earlier this year — with a possible future fight against his old foe Mike Tyson mentioned.
Despite the concerns held by others, Holyfield is confident he can handle what Belfort will throw at him.
“The fact is, I’m going in there with an MMA guy, and yeah, he does a couple of things right. He knows how to throw punches and he can deliver hard shots, but I can do more,” Holyfield told MMA Fighting this week.
“I just bring more to the game because (of my) the years of doing it.
“I kind of feel that you’ve got to have a lot of confidence to get in the sport and get it with me when I’ve been doing it a lot longer. I’ve been doing boxing since I was eight-years-old.
“Realistically, if you’re coming into boxing, you’re really coming into my field. I just want everyone to know that you have to be smart with what you want to do.”
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