[UPDATE]
Evander Holyfield’s fight with Vitor Belfort this Saturday will be moved to Florida after Holyfield was not licensed to fight in California per Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh. The event will take place in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. You can purchase the event here.
[ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2021, 2:09 PM]
Oscar De La Hoya has reportedly been replaced by Evander Holyfield in the September 11 boxing match against Vitor Belfort after De La Hoya contracted COVID-19.
Friday, TMZ Sports reported that 58-year-old Evander Holyfield will now be boxing Vitor Belfort in place of Oscar De La Hoya next Saturday. There is no word yet on if there was any consideration of rescheduling De La Hoya/Belfort after De La Hoya’s positive COVID-19 test, and no official announcement has been made by Triller as of yet.
The event is still expected to take place in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but there is concern over if the California State Athletic Commission will approve this short-notice change. There is already a contingency plan in place if the contest is not granted approval, in which case the event would be moved to Florida according to the report.
There were talks of Belfort fighting Holyfield after the De La Hoya fight, and those talks quickly accelerated into warp speed with this sudden change being made. Holyfield last competed in 2011 in a TKO victory over Brian Nielsen. As for Belfort, he last competed in an MMA bout against Lyoto Machida. Machida won that bout via front-kick KO in what was Belfort’s final bout in the UFC. As a boxer, Belfort holds a record of 1-0, with his lone professional bout taking place in 2006.
MMA News will keep you updated as always when more details are made available on this major developing story.
