By Max Schramm: Fans are really concerned about the health of the 58-year-old Evander Holyfield after watching him perform during Wednesday’s media workout ahead of his eight round fight against Vitor Belfort this Saturday, September 11th, on Triller PPV at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.

(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / Triller Fight Club)

Holyfield’s reflexes looked shot, his balance poor, and his punches glacially slow as he worked out with his trainer in front of the media.

The way Holyfield looked during the workout, he’s going to get beaten up by the former UFC heavyweight champion Belfort.

It doesn’t matter that Belfort isn’t a boxer by trade and that he’s old at 44. He can still punch, and he’s faster and a lot younger than Holyfield.

Surprisingly, the Florida State Athletic Commission has sanctioned the Holyfield vs. Belfort fight to count as a real professional fight. Of course, even if they didn’t, the match would still take place, and there would be just as much worry for the health of the former two-division world champion Holyfield.

Originally, Oscar De La Hoya was scheduled to face Belfort, but he suddenly pulled out of the fight last week after testing positive for COVID-19.

Some boxing fans believe the 48-year-old De La Hoya chickened out when he realized what he was up against in facing Belfort.

Holyfield won’t quit

“It’s about how much heart people have. I know I’m not going out. I’m not going to quit,” said Evander Holyfield to Fighthype on his fight against Vitor Belfort.

“If he don’t quit, that shows you how good he is. The only thing I know is I’m going to give my all and stuff like that. That’s it. That’s all I can give anyway. I’m 58, and I’ve never been in there older.

“I got out when I was 46. I’ve never been in there, so who am I to tell somebody to lecture them and all this. It’s easy to say anything. Go out there and try to do it yourself. You’ll find out that ain’t easy.

“A lot of them. They don’t need a number,” said Holyfield when asked how many rounds of preparation he did for the Belfort fight.

“I’m not trying to stress nobody out or nothing because I don’t want nobody to think, ‘I can’t do what Evander did because I didn’t do that many rounds.’ My whole thing is to elevate and not pull somebody down.

“You got to get people who know people, and you got to start trusting a little bit more than you used to trust. You got to trust some people who can get somebody. This is how things work out.

“You’ve got to have trust in somebody because if you don’t have any trust in somebody, then you’re never going to get what you need to get,” said Holyfield about him having faith in his training team to find the right people for him to spar with.

“It’s about hit and don’t get hit. I know how strong Evander is. It’s about fighting a smart fight on Saturday night,” said Belfort.