This was certainly a strange new story creeping out of social media this week. Former West Ham and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is apparently making a switch of sports from football to boxing. This has been prompted by a betting operator Betfair who, after seeing how much Ferdinand likes to keep his social media followers apprised of his fitness, which includes boxing training, they put an offer to back him to become a pro-boxer.
He accepted. So two years after retiring from football, Ferdinand hasn’t let his fitness slip and took up the challenge to go after a belt on the British boxing scene. But doing a few boxing workouts to keep fit is a whole different kettle of fish to actually stepping into the ring and getting punched in the face. This could be a world of hurt for Ferdinand down the line, both for his ego and his physical body.
25/1 outside shot at Sky Bet for a title
38-year-old Ferdinand has had a price of 25/1 offered by Sky Bet to land a British Boxing Title during his pro-career. That is of course if he even gets one. First, he has to apply to the British Boxing Board of Control to get a licence and then he would start his training and competitive action. The BBBC has said that they haven’t received an application and the famed boxing promoter Barry Hearn said that there is only a 50/50 chance that he would be granted one. Betfair are helping him get that licence.
Taking up the challenge of training Ferdinand is Team GB coach and the former WBC super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall. Ferdinand was prominent on Twitter earlier in the year as he was in the ring at the end of his friend Anthony Joshua’s win over Wladimir Klitschko with Joshua’s belts draped over him. So that coupled with social media exposure of himself working out, he seems to be a fan of boxing at least.
Assuming Ferdinand gets his licence, assuming that he does his training there would be such a long path for him to get a title shot. To actually be ready in the ring, to understanding the nuances of what goes on in a fight is a whole world away from anything Ferdinand has been exposed to. This isn’t like Conor McGregor’s switch from the UFC to Boxing, this is a 38-year-old total amateur with no fight experience in any discipline at any weight.
Is he really going to take down a seasoned champion? Ferdinand would probably go around the cruiserweight category and he can take some solace at least that the current British champion is only one year younger than he is. That’s Ovill Mckenzie who is 37 and has held the title since 2014. There have been other examples that Ferdinand can look at for a bit of inspiration. Former Crystal Palace striker Leon McKenzie became a pro-boxer and so did Curtis Woodhouse, a former Birmingham player and he went on to become the British super-lightweight champion.