Rio Ferdinand

Rio is about to embark on a career in professional boxing. His transformation to boxer will be on TV, a reality type show it appears. This has been done before by Flintoff. Respect to Flintoff for lacing gloves and taking part in the hardest sport, but the level of skill on display was no better than some white collar fights I've seen.
Rio will approach this with a high level of fitness, as he appears to have carried on training since retirement. But let's be honest, at 38 time isn't on his side and a fight isn't a fitness competition.
Interested to see how this pans out.

Its hard to predict how sportsmen take to other sports, you assume that with some good training their natural Athletic prowess and coordination would count for something. Then you see flintoff fight and wonder if he'd ever watched a boxing fight never mind being trained for one.

Rio is apparently looking to channel some of his anger at the sad loss of his wife and I can entirely understand that. Don't know if this is the right avenue but his choice.

It would take a lot of effort and training to make him worse that flintoff so if that's his benchmark he should be fine.

I just remember Flintoff's debut....

*Shudder*

Freddie V Rio can see it now...

The amount of hype surrounding this is ridiculous. There's a load of yes men spouting about how good he is whilst for me Ferdinand is clearly finding a way to stay relevant and in the public eye. I get the channeling his anger thing, but on national TV? Gimme a break.

"Popular ex-sporting icon finds way to regain approval and money from unsuspecting public". This whole thing smacks of a production company taking advantage of a former footballer at a vulnerable period in his life. I only hope they're paying him well...

if it fills a void in his life then good luck to him.....Seems to be under no illusions about how hard it will be.

Wouldn't be the first sportsman in history to have trouble adjusting to a more mundane life style.............Unfortunately some of us don't need to worry about adjusting.

Live and let live.............However unless he hooks up with a Hearn or Warren he may have trouble getting a licence.

If he's stayed fit then can't see him having any problems getting a licence and even if one of the big promoters don't pick him up, one of the smaller ones will as alas he will fill a place up just because of the novelty.

Not really sure where this desire to watch people train to be boxers from as there's enough of it on youtube and stuff if that'swhat your looking for but hey ho, each to their own and if it helps him get over the early death of his missus then i hope he does well.

Lee Froch is active on the unlicensed scene nowadays. Looks to be about cruiser aswell.
Could see that selling Ferdinand v Carl Frochs brother.