British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that former footballer Wayne Rooney has spoken to him about the possibility of arranging a crossover boxing exhibition match.
Now that is something we’d be willing to pay the PPV for.
Speaking on Gary Neville’s new YouTube series with Sky Bet, Stick to Football, the Matchroom Sport chairman was fielding questions about the likelihood of everything from Joshua vs Fury, taking over from his father as a boxing promoter, to how much money influencer boxing is making the industry.
It was at this point, whilst the panel were watching clips of Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright sparring for fun and fighting at charity events, that Hearn confessed that the Manchester United legend turned full-time coach has actually got in touch about fighting on multiple occasions.
Could Wayne Rooney step into the boxing ring against Jake Paul? 🤔
I mean, how good/funny/totally daft would this be?
“After every big fight — and he won’t mind me saying this — especially with a YouTuber, sometimes [Wayne] Rooney will fire me a message”, said the 44-year-old.
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“I actually said to Wayne, who had a very limited amateur pedigree but could still fight, imagine the shape you’d get in, I told him. Wayne Rooney against Jake Paul at Old Trafford, imagine that.”
With Neville joking, “Did you see him against Phil Bardsley?” — a reference to an old clip of Rooney getting knocked out after by the fellow ex-pro in his kitchen, which got a huge laugh around the table — Hearn insisted that the retired footballer could get in some serious shape with the right training.
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The 37-year-old recently took the Birmingham City manager’s job after departing MLS club DC United, so while we don’t expect he’ll be taking a sabbatical to get in the ring any time soon, given that coach enjoyed a bit of boxing back in his younger days, you can never say never.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hearn also addressed the age-old question of whether or not Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury will ever come to fruition, to which he simply said it “has to happen”.
Adding that regardless of whether AJ gets a fight and potentially loses against US heavyweight Deontay Wilder or if Fury ultimately loses against Oleksandr Usyk — a fight that now looks to have been signed once again — he insists the interest in this long-awaited match-up is still there.
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Admitting that he’s Anthony Joshua’s “number one fan”, Hearn also went on to insist that not only can he win if he ever gets the chance to fight either of them but that he’d do it “in style”, having told talkSPORT last month that he believes Joshua could “knock out” both Wilder and Fury. Big words.
Whether you back him or not, I think we can all agree on one thing: a Wayne Rooney vs Jake Paul boxing match would genuinely be one of the most watched sporting events in history. You can watch Hearn’s appearance on Stick to Football in full down below:
If Eddie Hearn actually manages to get Wayne Rooney a boxing match against one of the Paul brothers we’ll love him forever.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Featured Image – Johnny Gios (via Unsplash)
Sport
Manchester Storm game postponed just one week after AO Arena return due to ‘technical issue with the ice’
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Storm’s second game back at the AO Arena had to be postponed over the weekend due to a ‘technical issue with the ice’.
The ice hockey team made a record-breaking return to the venue earlier this month, attracting some 11,000 fans to watch their match against Sheffield Steelers.
But just one week later, as Manchester Storm prepared to face off against The Nottingham Panthers, the game had to be postponed.
Fans were already inside the legendary venue when a ‘technical issue with the ice’ became apparent and the game was called off.
Manchester Storm and the AO Arena said they ‘sincerely apologise’ to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption.
The game has now been rescheduled to Wednesday 14 October, with tickets valid for the new fixture.
The full statement read: “Unfortunately today’s Manchester Storm game vs The Nottingham Panthers has been suspended due to a technical issue with the ice.
“We sincerely apologise to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their patience.
Danny Jones -
19th October 2023 
