CBS Sports
58-year-old Evander Holyfield stepped back into the boxing ring on Saturday night, taking on former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in the main event of a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view. The worries of those who felt Holyfield should not step into the ring, even in an exhibition capacity, were quickly proven right as Belfort cruised to a first-round TKO victory.
Holyfield quickly looked his age, he was off-balance on his early power punches, missing on one wild shot that caused him to spin around and fall to the ground. After Holyfield got back to his feet, Belfort pounced, landing a hook and an uppercut that sent Holyfield stumbling backward before hitting the canvas.
Holyfield managed to beat the count but Belfort continued his offensive flurry. As the punches continued to land and Holyfield was forced to just cover up until the referee was forced to jump in and stop the fight at the 1:49 mark of Round 1.
"The guy is strong but I wasn't hurt," Holyfield said of the stoppage. "The thing is, it wasn't no shot that really hurt me bad. He hit me with a shot and I was off balance. I'm not hurt. I'm not. It's kind of sad. It is what it is."
Belfort immediately made a call for more big fights as he said he intends to continue on as a boxer at 44 years old.
"I want to thank Holyfield for stepping up," Belfort said. "I came to knock people out. Get ready boxers, you have to come to my world. Champions, don't be afraid of competition."
Belfort's attention then turned to announcing an offer for a "winner take all" fight with social media star-turned-boxer Jake Paul. An offer that was immediately backed up by Triller's executives.
"We've got $25 million dollars," Belfort said. "Hey, Jake Paul, stop running from me, man. You can be my kid."
Triller CEO Ryan Kavanaugh then pumped the offer up to $30 million.
There are some obvious issues making the fight happen. Triller promoted Paul's fight with Ben Askren before Paul left Triller and signed a deal with Showtime, a deal that began with his pay-per-view win over Tyron Woodley in August. At the time of the split, Kavanaugh claimed that Paul's main event with Askren was a one-time thing and that they had no intentions of having him headline future events.
The contract situation likely makes for an impossible situation for that fight to happen any time soon. Triller's execs called for the fight to take place on Thanksgiving weekend, which adds even more complications as Paul stated he wanted to take time off from fighting after his win over Woodley, though he did later agree to a rematch if Woodley followed through with their pre-fight bet of getting "I love Jake Paul" tattooed on his body. Furthermore, there's no chance anyone agrees to a fight under "winner take all" terms.
After telling Paul he could come "meet daddy," Belfort also called out boxing's pound-for-pound best fighter, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for another fight that has next to no chance of ever happening.
"He will not fight me at 185, I promise you. He will not have the balls to come, I promise you," Belfort said.
Fight card, results
Vitor Belfort def. Evander Holyfield via TKO, Round 1
Anderson Silva def. Tito Ortiz via knockout, Round 1
Jono Carroll def. Andy Vences via majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 97-93)
David Haye def. Joe Fournier via unanimous decision (79-72, 80-71, 79-72)