Triller Fight Club Legends II results: Vitor Belfort makes quick work of Evander Holyfield in first-round TKO
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – As many expected, Vitor Belfort put away Evander Holyfield with ease.
The former UFC champion only needed less than two minutes to dispatch the 58-year-old Holyfield in the main event of their heavyweight boxing bout at Triller Fight Club Legends II. The official stoppage came at the 1:49 mark of round one. It was a TKO win for Belfort.
Triller Fight Club Legends II took place on Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The main card streamed on pay-per-view.
As soon as the bell rang, they touched gloves and the action immediately began. Holyfield pressured the Brazilian and landed a nice left hook. Soon after that, Belfort rocked Holyfield with a right hand and had him wobbled. Belfort pressured Holyfield and knocked him down. Holyfield quickly stood up, but was quickly put down again with a right hand.
Holyfield continued after his second knockdown to get greeted by a barrage of punches from Belfort. The referee immediately stopped the bout as Holyfield was clearly hurt.
IT IS ALL OVER! @vitorbelfort STOPS EVANDER IN THE FIRST!!!
Catch the replay!#TRILLERFIGHTCLUB LIVE RIGHT NOW ON #FITE!
[ #HolyfieldBelfort | https://t.co/jpCvXLI1j3 ] pic.twitter.com/IwQgJUqQBB
— FITE (@FiteTV) September 12, 2021
Holyfield took the fight on short notice, replacing Oscar De La Hoya who was forced out of the bout with Belfort after getting hospitalized from COVID-19.
Holyfield hadn’t fought in a decade. The last time he competed was at age 48 when he defeated Brian Nielsen via TKO. The former multiple-time boxing heavyweight champion is a little over a year away from his 60th birthday.
Holyfield disagreed with the stoppage of his fight:
“I think it was a bad call,” Holyfield said on the broadcast. “I don’t think the referee should’ve stopped the fight that quick.”
Meanwhile, Belfort, 44, returned to competition for the first time since his TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in May 2018 under MMA. Belfort has only competed once in professional boxing having defeated Josemario Neves in 2006.
Belfort called out Jake Paul in his post-fight interview alongside Triller Fight Club CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. The original offer of $25 million for Paul to take the fight was upped to $30 million on the spot by Kavanaugh during the in-ring interview.
