It seems the Oscar De La Hoya-Vitor Belfort bout, postponed from September 11, hasn’t gone away for good. In light of the farce that was hurled on the world when late replacement Evander Holyfield fought (or tried, mostly from memory, to fight) Belfort, plenty of fans felt the big-name exhibition trend would come to an end. Not so. Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh spoke with Ariel Helwani and De La Hoya Vs. Belfort is now being eyed for Thanksgiving weekend, November 27th.
Kavanaugh said the planned tagline for the fight is “The Revenge.” Oh, okay. But will the fight fans pay to see the fight? Holyfyield-Belfort reportedly bombed at the box-office and it could be that fans are no longer interested in these nostalgia shows. Kavanaugh has bought into the notion (put forth by Holyfield) that the Belfort fight was stopped too quickly, with Belfort having stepped on Evander’s foot.
Kavanaugh says the “Revenge” fight between De La Hoya (with De La Hoya presumably being the man who will get revenge, for Holyfield) appeals to, get this, “the boxing world who isn’t necessarily a purist.” Do YOU fall into this group? I should hope not.
Kavanaugh is not against the idea of Holyfield fighting (or trying to fight) again, either. Apparently, the soon to be 59 year old signed a deal with Triller for more than one fight and Evander still has fights left on his deal. It was written plenty after the job Belfort did on what was left of Holyfield that the former heavyweight king should NEVER be allowed anywhere near a boxing ring ever again, and shame on anybody who would play a part in arranging another Holyfield bout.
But it seems, shockingly and disgracefully, that we might yet see further Holyfield fights. As for De La Hoya Vs. Belfort, how would the boxing world react if it witnessed another quick, disturbing to watch ending to a fight that should never have taken place in the first place? Let’s see how many fans choose to boycott the November fight, if it actually goes ahead, as it looks as though it will. What a time we live in, sports fans.