Both Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had successful football careers, but now that they have a little extra time on their hands, they could be willing to kill it by sparring in the boxing ring.
Both players were among the best football players in the world in their heyday, and they had a long history of significant impact on both their club and their country.
Both players have now retired. Rooney is currently coaching Plymouth Argyle in the Championship as he attempts to revive his career following a disastrous stint with Birmingham City last year, while Ibrahimovic is taking on a senior advising job at AC Milan.
Even for a brief period of time, Rooney and Ibrahimovic—two superstars of the game—were comrades at Manchester United. Along with the Red Devils, they shared the Europa League, League Cup, and Community Shield victories.
They too might find themselves together soon, albeit under rather different circumstances.
Misfits Boxing promoter Mams Taylor claims that Rooney is one of the potential opponents for Ibrahimovic in a bout. Taylor made this revelation to The Sun.
Taylor said: “I’ve tried to convince Zlatan and he can fight. I’m good friends with his manager and we had a FaceTime, the three of us. It was really cool because he’s seen a lot of Misfits fights and he’s followed it. He was a kickboxer, he’d be a good one as well.”
On Rooney’s involvement, Taylor added: “I will say that Zlatan and Wayne Rooney, there have been conversations and I think it’s a matter of time. At some point it will materialise. There’s other names that aren’t quite as big as these guys.”
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Rooney has always been open about his love of boxing, and it was recently claimed that he was prepared to make his Misfits debut.
While Ibrahimovic has retired from football, he has always taken great care of his body and has stayed in amazing shape.
A matchup between Rooney’s heavyweight style and the leaner, more agile Swedish star would be exciting to see and would make for a great clash.