someone at his age and with as much money as he has doesn't need to be taking hits in the head. this isn't a game. most people are looking to wind it in at 38.
Retirement is extremely tough mentally for a lot of people regardless of their wealth.
People want to have an active place in society and a reason to get up in the morning.
Being 38 with no purpose is tough for many retired sportsmen. They are used to competing, working hard and being in the limelight. Then they suddenly have no place.
Lots of boxers fight on well past their prime despite having no financial need to do so. They mentally need to train in order to be happy.
Paolo Malidini is now a professional tennis player. He loves training and playing sport. Should he just quit and do fuck all for the next 50 years.
Rio has lost his wife and mother in a short space of time. He has found boxing training to be a great help in his mentality.
Can't believe people are actually against this. He isn't harming anyone.
Really? I'm not totally against it but get why some people are abit pissed off with it. Most seem to think he will essentially be handed a licence. Also he has a massive step up by being a multimillionaire and being able to invest in the very best trainers etc.
Boxing is very much seen as a rags to riches sport and this just shits all over that idea..
Have you seen his boxing skills then?Retirement is extremely tough mentally for a lot of people regardless of their wealth.
People want to have an active place in society and a reason to get up in the morning.
Being 38 with no purpose is tough for many retired sportsmen. They are used to competing, working hard and being in the limelight. Then they suddenly have no place.
Lots of boxers fight on well past their prime despite having no financial need to do so. They mentally need to train in order to be happy.
Paolo Malidini is now a professional tennis player. He loves training and playing sport. Should he just quit and do fuck all for the next 50 years.
Rio has lost his wife and mother in a short space of time. He has found boxing training to be a great help in his mentality.
Can't believe people are actually against this. He isn't harming anyone.
Dont see the problem. He'll get to fight a couple of journeymen that have full time jobs and cant train fulltime. He'll beat them just based on superior fitness levels then that will be it.
It wont be an even playing field, the guy he fights will probably have 2 days notice and has been working a 9 to 5 all week.He'all beat them based on them knowing they are there to lose and take the payday. People just don't decide to become pro boxers and simply beat journeymen. The only way it happens is in the scenario I described. See Freddie Flintoff for a perfect example. The bloke he fought actually caught Flintoff with a punch and out him on his arse! You could see the shock in the opponents face and he quickly realised he couldn't risk throwing another punch so withdrew further in to his shell as required!
I hate it when people think Boxing is easy and anyone can simply have a go. It really isn't easy at all. Famously, you can't play Boxing. The lowest ranked professional boxer in Britain in Rio's weight division would knock him unconscious within two minutes if it was an even playing field. No doubt at all.
It wont be an even playing field, the guy he fights will probably have 2 days notice and has been working a 9 to 5 all week.
Pretty harsh on a guy who has been threw hell, clearly looking for a distraction and something to focus on. No problem with what he is doing, he was a top player no matter what some supporters wouldn't have you believe. Fair play to him he's not out partying and getting fat and making a tool out of himself. Haters will always hate.
Why don't they put him up against someone else having their first fight?
I agree with some bits in your post and I have always liked Rio, and thought he was a class defender ( who probably didn't fulfil that huge potential he showed early doors ) but my issue isn't me being a hater, it's him and this whole charade disrespecting boxing, which imo, it does.
Being a professional boxer isn't a god given right. The vast, vast majority of people do not have what it takes. He will be granted a licence because of his wealth and profile. No way will he show at age 38 that he should be granted a licence, but he'll get one. I've seen him on the pads and he's diabolical. Much like Flintoff, who was actually denied a licence in his first attempt ( which shows just how poor he was ) No natural ability and far too late to the game to learn enough, let alone refine it. It usually takes a decade bar those who have freak natural ability and toughness.
The likes of McKenzie and Curtis Woodhouse are different. They had trained and sparred at a decent level since kids and were natural fighters who loved the sport.
Boxing shoots itself in the foot enough without this sort of nonsense.
I think he should do what people at his age and level of ability who fancy putting a pair of gloves on and testing themselves do, and that's have a white collar fight. Evenly matched at decent shows and gives the fighters the experience of taking part and feeling like a boxer. Leave the professionals alone
You basically have to run races on beaches against former champions, drag massive tyres through snowy forests, and punch lots of frozen carcasses in meat wholesalers. Pretty standard, really.Pardon my ignorance here, but what do you have to do to qualify for a license?