Triller Pivots Quickly To Evander Holyfield-Vitor Belfort Fight

In a span of 24 hours, Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya has been forced out of his exhibition return to the ring next Saturday due to Covid 19 but now, fellow Hall of Fame legend Evander Holyfield will take his place.

This, as Boxing insider Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports got confirmation from Triller owner/CEO Ryan Kavanaugh that the former Undisputed Heavyweight Champ, Holyfield has agreed to be the last minute replacement to fight former UFC Light Heavyweight champ, Vitor Belfort. Further, the bout will also move across the continent from Los Angeles to South Florida on just a week’s notice,

Per @RyanKavanaugh Evander @Holyfield has now signed his contract and at 58, will fight @vitorbelfort a week from today in the main event of a @Triller Fight Club show in Seminole, Florida

— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) September 4, 2021

This caps a crazy last 24 or so hours, as news broke Friday afternoon that the 48 year old De La Hoya had tested positive for Covid 19 and would not be able to feature on Triller’s “Fight Club” show at Staples Center in L.A. And, it looked like the fight with Belfort would potentially be left to be rescheduled or scrapped altogether.

However, Kavanaugh and Triller have been unable to fulfill their contract with the 58 year old Holyfield, wh was to have fought former Heavyweight contender Kevin McBride on the undercard of the Teofimo Lopez battle with George Kambosos that had been scheduled for Miami in early June.

Then, Lopez was diagnosed with Covid 19 and experienced symptoms delaying the fight further. That’s where Holyfield has waited for his bout to be put back on this Summer without an update.Holyfield had just this week filed arbitration papers in California against Kavanaugh/Triller demanding at least some or full payment for the McBride fight not being set.

Now. that has been settled and Holyfield will slide in to fight Belfort.  Belfort, is a year old MMA fighter who previously won the UFC Light Heavyweight title, but hasn’t been in any type of cage-fight, etc., since May of 2018.

Belfort, who is Brazilian, does have a brief amateur background as a boxer in his teenage years. He also fought one time with a first round KO in a pro boxing match in Brazil in 2006. Holyfield was last in the ring in TKO win over Brian Nielsen in May of 2011.

Iole’s report is that Triller will put the fight on with seven days notice at the Hard Rock Casino just north of Miami, where the Atlanta native Holyfield lives now and has been training for a comeback.Also, it’s believed the bout will be an eight, two minute rounds exhibition without head gear. But, we’ll wait for the firm details on that.