Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand is set to become the latest athlete to get out of their comfort zone and experience a fight as a professional boxer, in the most surprising news you'll hear this week.
Not content with his role as a pundit for BT Sport, Rio is set to fight professionally for the first time at the age of 38, two years after his retirement from professional football.
The Telegraph have broken the news ahead of an official announcement from Ferdinand on Tuesday afternoon.
Rio Ferdinand is to attempt to become a professional boxer, it can be revealed. The former Manchester United and England captain will confirm he is taking up the sport at what is being billed as a “major news announcement” on Tuesday afternoon.
Ferdinand will try to follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship star who last month lost to Floyd Mayweather on his boxing debut.
He will also seek to emulate Curtis Woodhouse, the former Sheffield United striker who went on to become British light-welterweight champion.
We certainly doubt that Rio is planning on calling out Floyd Mayweather, but it will be interesting to see if an opponent emerges as we learn more about this decision which would not have been made on a whim.
Rio has been training in boxing for some time now, although few would have imagined he was doing so for anything other than keeping fit. His Instagram account has several clips and photos of him training his striking and movement.
This should be interesting, and we wish him the best of luck. Hopefully it will be a bit more enjoyable than the time Freddy Flintoff decided to do something similar for a TV show, and hopefully Ferdinand can surprise us all with his skills.
We'll bring you more information on his professional debut as we get it.
