Yet another event involving Hasim Rahman Jr. will undergo significant changes.
BoxingScene.com has learned that former UFC champion Vitor Belfort has fallen ill and is no longer able to proceed with a planned showdown against Las Vegas’ Rahman Jr.
A new opponent is in the process of being finalized for the second-generation heavyweight to headline this weekend’s Misfit Boxing + DAZN: X Series 003 card from Moody Center on the campus of University of Texas in Austin, Texas. BoxingScene.com has learned that the rest of the show will proceed as originally planned, along with at least one more bout being added to the bill.
Representatives from Misfit Boxing did not immediately respond to messages from BoxingScene.com seeking confirmation or comment. However, speculation was further fueled as the most recent promotional posts from the company’s social media team no longer mention or profile Belfort.
The development marks the second postponement since the matchup was originally announced on August 27, the day of the inaugural Misfits Boxing show.
Rahman appeared ringside for the first card at The O2 in London—headlined by online influencer and Misfits KSI—to confirm his participation in the series. His signing was accompanied by an official announcement of his fight with Belfort, which at the time was due to headline the October 15 Misfits Boxing show in Sheffield, England.
The card proceeded but without Rahman-Belfort, which was pushed back to November 19 as the headliner of Misfit’s first U.S. event. The show will go on, as Rahman will face a new opponent on this show while event handlers will look to reschedule Rahman-Belfort in early 2023.
Rahman (12-1, 6KOs) continues to endure what has been a bizarre 2022 campaign.
The year began with his lone career defeat, a fifth-round stoppage at the hands of James McKenzie Morrison in a battle of unbeaten second-generation heavyweights on April 29 in Las Vegas. Rahman, the son of retired former lineal heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Sr.—was winning every round before the fight was suddenly stopped midway through the fifth-round against Morrison, son of the late, former WBO heavyweight titlist Tommy Morrison.
Rahman resurfaced in early summer, agreeing to face Jake Paul (6-0, 4KOs) on roughly one month’s notice. The opportunity became available when England’s Tommy Fury was unable to secure a travel visa necessary to fly to the U.S. from the U.K. to proceed with the planned August 6 Showtime Pay-Per-View event from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The fight with Paul was originally announced to conditionally take place at 200 pounds. It was later modified to 205 by the New York State Athletic Commission due to pre-fight weight checks suggesting that Rahman—who’d never weighed lighter than 211 ¼ as a pro—could not safely make the cruiserweight limit. It proved moot, as the event was canceled by the Paul side one week out from fight night.
The hope now is that a new foe can be secured in time to allow Rahman to remain atop this weekend’s show and end the year on a high note.
Belfort was due to appear in his second sanctioned boxing match.
The 45-year-old Brazilian—a former UFC light heavyweight champion who now lives and trains in Boca Raton, Florida—claimed a first-round knockout of Jose Mario Nieves in April 2006 in Salvador, Brazil. The bout was a one-fight departure from his 22-year mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Belfort returned to the ring last September, originally due to face International Boxing Hall of Fame former six-division champ Oscar De La Hoya who tested positive for Covid. Belfort went on to face Evander Holyfield, stopping the Hall of Fame former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion at 1:01 of the first round of their exhibition match in Hollywood, Florida.
The rest of Saturday’s show remains intact, featuring a dozen influencers—only one of which has previously appeared in a sanctioned pro bout.
‘G.I.’ Josh Brueckner (1-0, 0KOs as a boxer) will face Chase DeMoor—a former college football defensive end and now a reality TV star—in a scheduled four-round heavyweight contest. His lone other pro bout came on the undercard of the November 2019 DAZN show headlined by KSI’s split decision win over Logan Paul. Brueckner, who is 4-2 as an MMA fighter, beat Tyler Smith via four-round decision between debuting boxers.
DeMoor appeared on the September 10 content creator-themed Social Gloves show in Los Angeles, battling to a four-round draw with fellow reality TV star Cory Wharton.
Walid ‘Sharks’ Muhsein and Deen TheGreat (real name Nurideen Shahid Shabazz) meet in a four-round bout, the second each on the YouTube boxing circuit for the social media influencers. Sharks fought to a three-round draw with Adam Selah on the undercard of Moneykicks-Anas Elshayeb on July 30 in Dubai, while Deen—also known as Deen Bean—stopped Evil Hero in the first round of a lightweight clash on the inaugural Misfits x DAZN show in London.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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