Wayne Rooney confirms Misfits Boxing discussions as Tyson Fury reveals sparring plans with former England captain

Wayne Rooney has revealed he has undertaken tentative discussions with Misfits Boxing over a potential switch to the fighting game after being offered the chance to spar with former heavyweight champion of the world Tyson Fury.

Two-time heavyweight ruler, 'The Gypsy King' revealed that 'serious talks' to include the former Manchester United star as part of his training camp ahead of his first showdown with Oleksandr Usyk incredibly took place in 2022.

But whilst a link-up between the pair ultimately failed to materialise, Fury has gone on record to suggest he would be more than willing to take the English football icon under his wing if he does, at some point, agree to make a cross-sport switch.

Rooney, who holds a well publicised long-term love for boxing, has previously gone viral on social media with a video depicting the 39-year-old being knocked out by former Red Devils teammate, and close friend, Phil Bardsley.

He subsequently responded by making light of the shocking video, celebrating a goal against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League just a week later by shadow sparring the corner flag.

Since then, rumours have continued to circulate that the 39-year-old could one day turn his hand to the sweet science, with Rooney himself confirming that talks have taken place with promotion organisation, Misfits.

"They've been in touch and asked the question but I think at the minute I want to focus on getting back into management, not boxing," he told Sky Sports recently.

There's been a few offers and obviously Misfits have been in and that's been all over the news, so never say never!

- Wayne Rooney (Sky Sports)

"But listen, right now, I want to focus on getting back into football management - that's my real focus at the moment."

Rooney, England's all-time record outfield appearance maker - holds a long-term friendship with Fury, with both featuring as part of the England set-up at Soccer Aid over the weekend.

Whilst Rooney dished-up a reminder of his on-field qualities on Sunday - notching the fastest goal in Soccer Aid history after just four minutes - Fury, who was serving as part of the Three Lions management team, has revealed that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the two share the ring sometime in the future.

"I spoke to Wayne (Rooney) in the past about sparring and he was up for it, he's game," the currently retired heavyweight told talkSPORT.

"We looked at bringing him in as part of preparations for the first (Oleksandr) Usyk fight. It was serious, he agreed to come in for a few weeks but we never got around to officially making it happen.

"I'm a big fan of his, he's a good guy and maybe there is still time for us to take each other up on what we discussed in the future.

"He is a huge boxing fan and comes from a good boxing family, so yeah, let's have a spar sometime in the future!"

Mark Mothershaw

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