Leave it to an MMA fighter to miss weight for a boxing match.
On Saturday, Triller Fight Club is running a boxing event titled
“Legends II” in which it will pit a boxing legend against an MMA
legend. For boxing, 58-year-old Evander Holyfield, who has not
fought as a pro in over a decade, will represent his sport. Against
him is the relatively youthful Vitor
Belfort, age 44, who is stepping up from his intended 185-pound
scrap with Oscar De La Hoya to meet Holyfield at heavyweight. The
heavy hitters had no issues coming in below the unlimited
heavyweight cap, but the same could not be said about every
competitor on the card.
Beyond a few charity exhibition excursions, this will be
Holyfield’s (44-10-2, 1 NC, 29 KOs Box) first boxing tilt since his
presumptive retirement match in 2011 against Brian Nielsen. The
longtime heavyweight champ retired on a three-fight unbeaten
streak, and even won a mid-tier WBF Federation belt at the ripe age
of 47. Over the years, “The Real Deal” has fought and beaten the
likes of George Foreman, Ray Mercer
and Riddick Bowe, but may be most known for his pair of tilts with
Mike Tyson where the Tyson bit part of his ear off in their
rematch. The five-time heavyweight champion, coming in on short
notice, hit the scales at 225.4 ready pounds.
Belfort (26-14, 1 NC; 1-0 Box), whose last pro bout came in MMA and
not boxing, said goodbye to the sport following a knockout loss to
Lyoto
Machida in 2018. “The Phenom” signed with One Championship for a possible return, but he
was released before competing. His lone boxing match came in 2006
over 0-0 opponent Josemario Neves, and he knocked Neves out.
Belfort, who has not competed at heavyweight since his first run in
Pride Fighting Championships that ended in
2001, weighed in much lower than his opponent at 206.2 pounds.
The co-main event was to be a 195-pound catchweight affair between
MMA greats Anderson
Silva (192.6) and Tito Ortiz
(200), but the latter came in five pounds above that limit – four
if a one-pound allowance applies in this catchweight contest. Silva
famously stated before the match that if Ortiz misses weight, the
fight is off. Per MMA
Fighting, however, “The Spider” has begrudgingly accepted the
fight and Ortiz has been fined 20% of his purse.
The boxing event hosted by Triller Fight Club will kick off on
Saturday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on
Fite.tv pay-per-view. Both standard and alternate commentary
streams will be made available for purchasers, with the
latter a broadcast featuring commentary from former President
Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr.
Triller Fight Club ‘Holyfield vs. Belfort’ Weigh-in
Results:
Evander Holyfield (225.4) vs. Vitor
Belfort (206.2)
Anderson
Silva (192.6) vs. Tito Ortiz
(200)*
David Haye (211.5) vs. Joe Fournier (195.5)
Andy Vences (129.4) vs. Jono Carroll (130)
Anthony Chavez (129.2) vs. Diuhl Olguin (128)
Eliezer Silva (158) vs. Terry Roscoe (155)
* Ortiz missed weight and has been fined 20% of his
purse.