Former Manchester United star teases three vs three boxing fight including Wayne Rooney
Former Manchester United defender Danny Simpson is trying to drum up some interest in the idea of a three vs three boxing match involving Wayne Rooney and Phil Bardsley
Danny Simpson is hoping to tempt Wayne Rooney and Phil Bardsley to follow in his footsteps and swap the football pitch for the boxing ring.
Simpson was reunited with his old Manchester United team-mates to play for a legends side against Celtic in a charity match at Old Trafford on Saturday. Rooney rolled back the years by curling in a free-kick in a 1-1 draw before United lost on penalties – but it wasn’t just football that was being discussed in the changing room.
Former Leicester title winner Simpson has moved into boxing since retiring from football, fighting in the Misfits 17 series on August 31. Simpson drew against FIFA streamer Danny Aarons in his debut bout and is already trying to recruit fellow ex-footballers.
Posting a picture of himself with Bardsley and Rooney in the Old Trafford dressing room, Simspon wrote on Instagram : "Getting some boxing tips off these 2 legends before our game @manchesterunitedfoundation. 3 vs 3 who wants it lol???" The post prompted a reply from Misfits boxer HS Tikky Tokky, who wrote: “Tell Rooney [to] stop ducking me.”
Both Rooney and Bardsley have some experience of boxing, having infamously clashed after a day in the pub in March 2015. In a famous video, a drunk Rooney hit the deck after being caught by a jab from Bardsley.
"It was in his house, we'd been out watching a couple of Super Sunday games and had a skinful – probably too many than what we should have done to be honest,” Bardsley told talkSPORT earlier this year.
"But boys will be boys, it was a Sunday afternoon, we got a little bit carried away. We ended up back at Wayne's house, had a little bit of a spar, one thing led to another and next minute there's blood all over the kitchen and all sorts.”
Plymouth manager Rooney was approached by Misfits boxing in February and was tempted to sign up, before deciding to concentrate on management instead. “[You] never know,” he said when asked about the idea. “No, erm they’ve been in touch and asked the question but at the minute I want to focus on getting back into management, not boxing.”
However, Simpson says he has fielded plenty of interest from other ex-pros in making the crossover. He said: "I'm not going to say the names now, I've had a few people messaging me last few days. Hopefully they'll be more now after seeing that. I had a lot of lads from Leicester in the WhatsApp group so hopefully everyone's seen it and hopefully they fancy it and they can all come along."
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