RIO FERDINAND has confirmed a shock move into boxing two years after hanging up his football boots.
The former Manchester United and England defender will step into the ring – in partnership with Betfair in the ‘Defender to Contender’ project.
Ferdinand will speak to the media this afternoon at a press conference in east London but has announced his move this morning.
“Boxing is an amazing sport for the mind and the body,” he said.
“I have always had a passion for it and this challenge is the perfect opportunity to show people what’s possible.
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“It’s a challenge I’m not taking lightly, clearly not everyone can become a professional boxer, but with the team of experts Betfair are putting together and the drive I have to succeed, anything is possible.”
Betfair are putting together a team of experts including former WBC super-middleweight Champion turned Team GB trainer, Richie Woodhall to help Ferdinand prepare for the change in sport.
“In all honesty, I think Rio can definitely box as a professional given time,” Woodhall said.
“He has natural power in his right hand, is extremely fit and is very enthusiastic to learn which is encouraging.
“Style wise he’s very raw and I’ll have to develop this which will take time but he has all the natural ingredients, height and reach advantages over boxers in his weight division and definitely has potential to win a title in the future.”
Ferdinand hung up his boots in 2015 after 81 England caps, six Premier League titles, and winning the Champions League in 2008.
And former team-mate Gary Neville delivered the first jab on social media.
Neville tweeted: “Hey @rioferdy5 when you’re boxing does Vidic come in and take the punches whilst you cover round the back with me?”
Ferdinand follows Curtis Woodhouse, who became a professional boxer after playing football.
And the former Birmingham City midfielder admits he’s surprised by the move.
“When it came up on my Twitter feed that Rio Ferdinand was going to become a professional boxer I thought I’d been hacked,” he said. “It’s not something you read every day is it?
“I’ve been retired three years myself and one thing I missed – and he’s probably going through himself at the minute – is the competitiveness of being an athlete.
“Once that’s taken away from you it’s very, very difficult to replace it, so that’s probably what he’s chasing – to get that competitiveness back in his life.”
Ferdinand’s love of boxing is apparent on social media, with a picture on his Twitter profile showing him draped in the WBA, IBF and IBO heavyweight title belts of his friend Anthony Joshua.
The Londoner was in attendance when Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in April and posed for pictures with the Olympic gold medallist.
There are also several videos on his Instagram page showing Ferdinand training with the gloves.
One from July features ‘Eye of the Tiger’ playing in the background with a caption that reads: “Boxing Fridays…. left right left right… boom! Don’t beat around the bush….”.
Ferdinand goes on to tag former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, asking “when ya get ur licence back?”.
A video from January also shows Ferdinand fire off a stream of punches into impact pads, interspersed with hyperbolic challenges in the direction of Joshua – who he first reminds of a shared holiday in Dubai – and decorated British boxers Tony Bellew and David Haye.
Former midfielder Woodhouse won the British light-welterweight title in 2012 after swapping football for the sweet science, while cricketer Andrew Flintoff won a one-off bout, of modest standard, against American Richard Dawson having been mentored Barry McGuigan.
Source:www.express.co.uk