Surely this can't be true?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/18/rio-ferdinand-become-professional-boxer-age-38/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/18/rio-ferdinand-become-professional-boxer-age-38/
Rio Ferdinand to become a professional boxer
- Thread starter dwd
- Start date
Why not? Didn't Flintoff do something similar?
Boxing with a bad back at that age seems like a bad idea.
The Flintoff and Mcgregor things have really dragged boxing's name through the mud, surely the boxing board of control wouldn't allow Rio a boxing licence for a one-off fight.
They'd said already they wouldn't have sanctioned the Mayweather vs Mcgregor fight.
Mayweather - McGregor is different to Rio fighting some absolute grade A bum like Flintoff did. All Rio has to do is pass the medical and show competence. I see no reason why he shouldn't box if he wants too. Needs to work on his basic technique looking at the tweet he posted.
How the hell can the sport that gave Audley Harrison a career be dragged through the mud?
Because Rio is going to be fighting plumbers and plasterers not all time greats.
It makes a joke of the sport though, I'm an avid boxing fan and I hate all these circus shows.
Boxers should be given a licence based on their long-term potential contribution to the sport as a whole. Basically, a fighter who intends on having a career rather than a few fights.
Then what has he got to offer the sport?
He's just going to grab the limelight from a young talent who's up and coming and looking to gain fans.
A bit reminiscent of CM Punk going to the UFC. Same age as well.
feck sake McGregor lasted for a long time against one of the best boxers ever. Give him some fecking credit
Why does it? You can one offs in plenty of other sports. Take it for what it is.
Most would say that because Mayweather allowed him to fight in the first three rounds.
Most would say is a registered Fox News trademark
Feck off before I summon Phil Brown to have a word with you.
Nothing. He's clearly just after a new challenge and his previous career will unlock doors. He's not going to go and fight anyone remotely decent unless he somehow walks through a few bums first.
Now we can finally find out what's the best sport - Boxing or Football!
That will be interesting if it happens, but is he in any fit condition for such a sport ?
Put Floyd Mayweather in a football match he would get destroyed but put Lionel Messi in a boxing ring and I think he'd have a chance. Messi's footwork is amazing and I think Floyd would have trouble with his unorthodox style and low centre of gravity. Furthermore, Messi can go 90 minutes maybe more at a high pace something Floyd can't do.
Is that serious?
So Messi is conditioned to take punches and land punches with his feet planted?
Has he the defensive skills to keep a top level boxer from pushing him around the rind and bullying him?
Footwork or not, he'd be destroyed.
He has better defensive skills than Ronaldo at least.
Ronaldo would go down with the first punch and wonder why he's getting no penalty.
Why? I feel like Rio has a great football brain and would be useful on someone's coaching staff or even as a manager.
seems like this is more a case of Rio using boxing as a way of overcoming the grief of the last couple of years, and channelling it into something positive. can't really begrudge him of that. he's only going to fight once, and it's going to be the last episode of a TV show - not like he's actually becoming a proper boxer.
What could possibly go wrong?
Did you watch the Flintoff doco? He went through all of the same due process as any other boxer that wanted to fight professionally would have to go through. He attained his license in the correct way. Don't know why you'd say it dragged boxing through the mud. If you watched the documentary you'd agree it actually showed the level of dedication required to compete in the sport. Youd have come away with no other opinion that boxing is a sport that requires a lot of dedication and extremely hard work to compete even at the lowest level. So I don't know how that's dragging boxing through the mud. If anything it was a "take my hat off to boxers for doing what they do" type of doco.
As for the McGregor fight, Muhammad Ali fought exhibition fights with wrestlers, is that also dragging boxing through the mud?
It sounds like you seen that McGregor Mayweather fight as an actual competitive fight, it wasnt, it was a circus fight, nothing more.
Oh dear
Boxing is a complete farce isn't it. Rio's team is put together by Betfair, they'll hope to get a big payment from bets while a 38 year old makes his professional debut, what a joke.
It feels like the sport knows it's dying (thanks to MMA) so everyone is trying to get a last minute pay day. Corrupt as feck.
It feels like the sport knows it's dying (thanks to MMA) so everyone is trying to get a last minute pay day. Corrupt as feck.
I see this as a way for him to keep busy and keep his mind away from the grief of losing his wife and then his Mam in the space of 2 years.