Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes Wayne Rooney is a possible opponent for YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
‘The Problem Child’ is weighing up his options after suffering a split decision loss against Tommy Fury which was the first defeat of his seven-fight boxing career.
Jake Paul is currently looking for his next opponent
A rematch with Tyson Fury’s brother is on the table as is an eagerly anticipated grudge match with KSI and now Manchester United’s all-time leading goal scorer has seemingly put himself forward as a potential opponent.
Hearn told Rio Ferdinand: “I’ve actually spoke to Wayne a few times about the Jake Paul fight.
“Normally, if he has a couple of glasses of red [wine] he’ll fire in a message to me at night going, ‘Listen, I wanna fight that geezer.’
“Wayne can fight, he had a couple of amateur fights – but him against Jake Paul at Old Trafford, that’s actually a makeable fight.”
Last year, KSI claimed that the retired footballing legend had messaged him about a potential fight, but he turned it down despite welcoming Rooney into the celebrity boxing space.
The 37-year-old is a known boxing fan, but most people have only ever seen him take part in the sport once and that was when a video of him being ‘knocked out’ by Phil Bardsley went viral in 2015.
Rooney made headlines in 2015 following a sparring session
He poked fun at the viral video during his next goal celebration
Footage shows the two former teammates pull on boxing gloves and trade blows as they spar in Rooney’s kitchen.
Bardsley, who was playing for Stoke City at the time, then catches Rooney square in the face with a left jab, sending his pal crashing to the floor where he stayed as the video abruptly ended.
Just days later, Rooney led his side to a Premier League victory against Tottenham and celebrated when he scored by shadowboxing before falling to the ground.
He has since claimed he was not hurt during his sparring session with Bardsley which was a somewhat common occurrence between the two Premier League stars.
Eddie Hearn thinks the football legend could fight Paul
Rooney explained in 2019: “On the night with Bardo, we’d been out. After that, we went home and put on the gloves.
“We do it quite regularly. We’ve done worse but that got out.
“The video stops when I get knocked down – but I actually get up and we carry on fighting.
“When we finished, the two of us were just sitting there. My nose had gone and Bardo’s got blood pouring out of his mouth.”
