On Friday, Oscar De La Hoya announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and is in the hospital. His fight with former UFC champion Vitor Belfort is off. Fortunately, the card will not be cancelled as Evander Holyfield is stepping in to fight Belfort.
De La Hoya sent a social media post from what appeared to be a hospital bed stating that he was suffering from symptoms related to COVID-19 and would be unable to fight next Saturday.
Wanted you to hear directly from me that despite being fully vaccinated, I have contracted Covid and am not going to be able to fight next weekend. Preparing for this comeback has been everything to me over the last months, & I want to thank everyone for their tremendous support. pic.twitter.com/0wKEnr5Jzv
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) September 3, 2021
Triller Fight Club is promoting this fight and will suffer a setback in promotion despite De La Hoya’s replacement being a former heavyweight champion.
Also on the card are a pair of former UFC champions with Anderson Silva taking on Tito Ortiz.
Payout Perspective:
The loss is a blow, sort of, for the promotion of the event although De La Hoya not returning to active boxing may be a blessing in disguise. This is the second event this year where the main card fighter has had COVID-19. Teofimo Lopez contracted COVID-19 and his June event to defend his title belt was delayed. Holyfield just filed a demand for arbitration due to the fact that he had not received a fight from Triller due to the Lopez event delay. He gets it here with the fight against Belfort. Celebrity boxing cannot be stopped.
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