Former England defender Rio Ferdinand has been training in Dubai as the boxer-in-progress edges towards a debut in the ring.
The soon-to-be 39-year-old announced plans to go from ‘Defender to Contender’ in a shock move a few weeks back and has mainly been met with skepticism and disappointment by the boxing fraternity.
During his sports switch, Ferdinand initially stated his desire to claim a recognized title but quickly backtracked when some current and former fighters raised eyebrows.
Newly-crowned British champion Sam Sexton and Commonwealth holder Lenroy Thomas seem a world away from Ferdinand, judging by some training videos posted by the ex-Leeds United man. At the same time, even the English title would be a tough ask given that touted future stars Nathan Gorman and Nick Webb were recently put forward to contest the strap.
RIO FERDINAND TITLES
Looking further down the chain, a shot at the Southern Area championship still reaches Ferdinand, even though Daniel Dubois is likely to vacate the strap.
Still, he would have to string together four or five wins against hungry domestic competition. That doesn’t seem likely.
The most likely scenario would be a one-fight dip of Ferdinand’s toes, possibly in the ilk of Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s foray in 2012.
That BoxNation bout saw the cricketer dropped by Richard Dawson in the second only to score a debated four-round points win.
Currently boasting a somewhat awkward style, Ferdinand has yet to go through the British Boxing Board of Control’s process as Flintoff did for his solitary clash televised on BoxNation for a Sky One TV special.
