Romney getting in the ring for charity boxing match against Holyfield

close

Video

Mitt Romney on going toe-to-toe with Evander Holyfield

Former GOP presidential nominee to square off against former heavyweight champ for charity

Politicians know how to take a few punches, but Mitt Romney is really putting that to the test.

The former presidential candidate is training in preparation to take on former world boxing champion Evander Holyfield this Friday, in a charity match projected to raise $1 million for a Utah-based nonprofit.

The two will square off to raise money for CharityVision, an organization that helps provide blindness-curing surgeries in poverty-stricken areas around the world.

It might not be the "Fight of the Century," but Romney has been training hard -- and hopes to land at least a few punches in the ring.

CharityVision released a promotional video, which shows the 2012 GOP presidential nominee pumping iron and hitting a punching bag.

"His trainer said, 'You can throw anything you want, Mitt, because there's no way you're going to get through. He's so fast, he will be able to brush aside anything you throw,'" Romney told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade. "And so, I'll try and at least touch the guy, but I'm hoping that he will be gentle with me."

But Holyfield isn't taking Romney's boxing abilities too lightly.

"He's very knowledgeable, [and] when people are very knowledgeable, you kind of have to worry yourself ... I don't want to get hit," Holyfield said on Fox & Friends.

Tickets for the fight are running up to $150,000, with 100 percent of the proceeds going toward medical equipment, clinics, and vision screenings. The organization estimates the fight will help fund 40,000 surgeries.