Mitt Romney failed in his bid to become US president – and now he has another failure under his belt after being defeated by heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, in a charity bout.
The former Republican presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor, 68 years young, lasted two rounds in the ring at a charity bout in Salt Lake City on Friday night.
The pair barely threw any punches and largely just danced around, occasionally lightly jabbing each other in the midsection, in what was very much a comedic event.
The good-natured match came ahead of several other fights by professional boxers and an auction to raise funds for CharityVision, which helps restore vision to people in developing countries. The event raised at least $1m, organisers said.
After the fight, Romney said of Holyfield: “He said, ‘You know what? You float like a bee and sting like a butterfly.’”
Romney’s son Josh is volunteer president of the charity, which raised at least $1m at the event.
Romney, the highest-profile Mormon in the US, remains a popular figure in Utah, where more than 60% of the residents belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is also remembered turning around Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Olympics after a bribery scandal.
Holyfield, 52, who retired from boxing in 2012, twice fought for the heavyweight title of the world against Mike Tyson.
At least Romney resisted the temptation to bite off a part of the boxer’s ear – unlike “Iron Mike”.
