Mitt Romney Throws His Hat Into the Ring...the Boxing Ring against Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield laces up the gloves for the first time in four years against an unconventional opponent: Mitt Romney.

The former heavyweight champion and the former Republican presidential nominee box for charity on May 15 in Salt Lake City. The sparring session, which comes on a legitimate boxing card, raises money for Charity Vision, a nonprofit that provides medical care in the developing world.

Don’t look for Romney to pull a Dwight Muhammad Qawi and push Holyfield past exhaustion over 15 rounds. “It will either be a very short fight,” Romney predicts, “or I will be knocked unconscious.” Why not both?

The odd couple share some common adversaries.

Both men faced corruption at the Olympics: The Real Deal endured a non sequitur disqualification at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 1984; Million Dollar Mitt cleaned up the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. Observers counted both men out in their respective fields: Evander came out on the losing end of 32 grueling rounds against Riddick Bowe in the 1990s; Mitt looked down and out in the aftermath of a battle against Ted Kennedy that same decade. They both have faced opponents contemptuous of the Marquess of Queensberry’s rules: Mike Tyson bit off part of Holyfield’s ear; Obama’s enthusiasts bugged a Romney meeting. And both men have been done dirty by the IRS.

The tale of the tape shows that the combatants each enter the fight at about six-foot-two. Holyfield, who fought at around 220, outweighs his light-heavyweight opponent by more than 40 pounds. The Real Deal boasts a 44-10-2 record. The Rominator comes in undefeated, albeit at 0-0.