Evander Holyfield has reportedly agreed to step in and fight Vitor Belfort on September 11, subject to paperwork issues for a scheduled exhibition clash.
Event organizers Triller are preparing to wheel out another old legend, but there’s a more sinister twist involved this time.
Holyfield is on the wrong side of his 50’s and has taken considerably more punishment than predecessors Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
Tyson and Jones enjoyed a tame contest themselves at the ages of 55 and 52, respectively. A one-off nostalgia offering that fans could live with these days.
But this seems to have opened the floodgates. Oscar De La Hoya has followed with ambitions to fight again. In addition, Shannon Briggs, James Toney, and Riddick Bowe are involved in comebacks to the ring.
Bowe is just as bad, if not worst than Holyfield, as the former undisputed heavyweight champion is vastly out of shape.
Questions need to get asked as to why these fighters are attempting to return in the first place. And more importantly, who wants to watch them trying to move around as if they were young again.
Apart from monetary payments, there’s absolutely nothing to gain from Holyfield or Bowe returning. They are never going to win a title and have no end-game ambitions whatsoever.
All they are doing is endangering themselves in their twilight years when the brain is at its most vulnerable.
Triller needs a substitute for De La Hoya as yet another event comes crashing down on them. Hot on the heels of the Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr. fiasco and Mike Tyson’s failed second appearance.
EVANDER HOLYFIELD SUBSTITUTE
Turning to Evander Holyfield, a man who waged wars and didn’t retire until he was a ravaged 48, is the wrong direction to move in.
How long will it be before one of these older fighters gets seriously hurt? – The odds of this happening are far more significant when you are over 50 and approaching 60.
Who in their right mind wants to see a 44-year-old UFC fighter taking on a boxer fourteen years his senior? – It’s bordering on a freak show and harking back to the days of the circus coming to town with a bearded lady.
Is society this sick these days? Would they’d rather watch older men bash each other in the head than younger and fitter who have the skills to win titles?
There’s nothing good that can come of this, and WBN will be part of the coverage. This abomination is where we draw the line.
If this fight gets announced, WBN will cover it honestly and publish the result on site unbiased. But Holyfield shouldn’t be fighting one month shy of his 59th birthday.
