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Romney to box former heavyweight champion for charity

Posted at 8:03 PM, Mar 16, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-18 16:41:10-04

Call him a glutton for punishment, but Mitt Romney is looking for another drubbing.

But instead of another campaign, Romney is jumping into the ring -- an actual boxing ring -- with ex-heavyweight champion Evander

Holyfield, a Romney aide confirmed on Monday.

"It will either be a very short fight, or I will be knocked unconscious," Romney told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Romney, 68, will suit up and face the 52-year-old retired boxer for a charity event in Salt Lake City on May 15.

But don't expect a knockout, Romney said the pair will "spar around a little bit," assuring that "it won't be much of a fight."

Romney's aw-shucks humility was a far cry from Holyfields comments when asked about the fight on Fox Business News.

He seemed to call Romney "Mick," either intending a sleight or actually not knowing the first name of the former Presidential Nominee.

"You can't run and hide from me," Holyfield said, adding later, "I just got to talk Mick into showing up. It's a charity, we just need to get him to stop hiding and he's going to get a whooping."

Proceeds of the event will go to Charity Vision, a charity group founded by a physician and former Mormon missionary aimed at bringing medical care -- mostly eye surgeries -- to impoverished areas of the world.

Romney, a Mormon, has become involved in the organization's charity work, according to the Tribune. Romney ruled out a third presidential bid earlier this year.

By Jeremy Diamond and Jim Acosta for CNN