Eddie Hearn has revealed that Wayne Rooney drunkenly texts him and asks him for fights. The Matchroom promoter is currently preparing for his star man Anthony Joshua’s return to the ring against Jermaine Franklin at The O2 on Saturday.
Ahead of AJ’s comeback, Hearn appeared on this week’s episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, with lots of talk centring around the heavyweight star and his upcoming battle with the shredded American Franklin.
However, the conversation then switched to the growing market for YouTube and celebrity boxing.
Crouch Hearn: “Could any footballers go into it?” With a grin on his face, Hearn replied: “Rooney can fight, I’ve spoke to Wayne. When Wayne has a drink, he’ll message me and he’ll start going, ‘I’ll fight him and I’ll fight him,’ and I get excited.
“Sometimes I get a message from Wayne saying, ‘Make me vs so and so, make that fight.’ I’ll look at it in the morning and go, ‘This is massive.’
“So I’ll message him back, ‘Few glasses of red or [are you serious?]’ Then he won’t reply and I’ll go, ‘Damn.’ But Wayne can fight.”
The Manchester United legend, currently managing DC United in the USA’s MLS, is a well-known boxing fan and sat ringside for Tyson Fury’s win over Derek Chisora in December.
Rooney was also infamously knocked out by fellow footballer Phil Bardsley after a kitchen sparring video surfaced.
The icon then hilariously recreated the knockout punch while celebrating a goal for the Red Devils just days later.
While there is much speculation on who Rooney could match up against in the room, Hearn took to another podcast to drop a hint to a potential opponent.
The promoter told Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE that a Rooney vs Jake Paul fight would bring in bigger numbers than Rooney’s former teammate Ferdinand fighting Paul’s nemesis KSI.
He said: ‘Wayne Rooney vs Jake Paul [brings in more numbers]. Rio had a go, didn’t he? He was nearly there and didn’t quite get there and KSI, those guys are so smart.
“I’ve actually spoken to Wayne a few times about the Jake Paul fight. Normally if he has a couple glasses of red, he sends me a few messages at night saying, ‘Listen, I want to fight that geezer.'”
When asked if Rooney has said the same about KSI, Hearn replied: “Yeah, probably! But Wayne can actually fight. He’s had a couple of amateur fights. Him against Jake Paul at Old Trafford… that’s actually a makeable fight.”
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