Vitor Belfort says that he isn’t paying much heed to the critics of his recent boxing match with Evander Holyfield.
The former UFC fighter, 44, stopped the 58-year-old Holyfield in the first round of a fight which was largely panned by the combat sport community, many of whom suggested that the sluggish Holyfield had little business being in the boxing ring with a man 14 years his junior.
But Belfort’s voice certainly isn’t added to the chorus of dissent from the recent Triller-promoted event.
“He tried to rip my head off, he knocked himself out at one point and got such a cross that he fell to the canvas by himself. If I don’t dodge my head would be rolling on the floor,” Belfort said to AG Fight.
“Then people criticize that I was very, very roasted. I’m not worried about that. I beat the most powerful heavyweight in history, who beat Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, the ‘haters’ will be there to criticise you.
“If I fight a guy over 50 is it worth it? If I win they will criticise. The animal was too strong, he is a horse and he was boxing well and I was very precise. Nobody talks about my accuracy, how good I was. They talk about how bad he was. He wasn’t bad, I demolished him.”
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Belfort continued, describing the uppercut which he says proved to be the beginning of the end against the aged Holyfield.
“I was cautious, I started slowly, but when he came up with it, I had my time,” he remembered. “When you smell blood, it’s time to hunt. It would be unnecessary (if the referee lets it go on longer), given his age. He took a lot of uppercut blow to the chin. The first one got really strong. Then there were other blows. But as many people think they are the other’s head, so let it die. It’s part of it.”
