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SALT LAKE CITY — The fight went two rounds and a five-time heavyweight champ went down briefly at the hands of a two-time presidential candidate with no prior boxing experience, as CharityVision raised $1 million for charity.
A ring announcer at The Rail Event Center said Mitt Romney’s team conceded the third round to “the true world champion,” after a soft-punching Romney went on the offensive in the first round and appeared to cause Evander Holyfield to go down on his hands and knees in the second round.
After the fight, Romney took over the microphone inside the ring and praised Holyfield as a good and religious man.
“I’d ask him to be a Mormon but I think he’s working on his own religion,” Romney quipped.
Romney saved up some jabs for others during his post-fight monologue, including John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, saying he wanted to ensure the match with Holyfield was “as clean as Hillary Clinton’s server.”
Romney’s son, Josh, said the fight had in fact raised close to $1 million to fund 40,000 eye surgeries in developing countries.
Romney ahead of the fight was flanked by a team of trainers that included former Utah Gov. and former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
The crowd in attendance was dotted with the state’s political dignitaries. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, had ringside seats and Attorney General Sean Reyes was also spotted in the crowd.
