It's a sentence I wasn't expecting to write any time soon, but in a surprise turn of events, former Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney has challenged YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI to a fight.
That's according to KSI, real name Olajide "JJ" Olatunji, who opened up about Rooney's call-out when he faced the media during his press conference ahead of next month's bout with Dillon Danis.
"It's funny, and I hope he doesn't get annoyed that I'm saying this, but Wayne Rooney hit me up saying 'oh we should fight'," the 29-year-old said on Thursday.
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"I said 'no', I just don't want to do that. If Wayne Rooney is down, I think it would be good to have him in the [influencer boxing] space."
Rooney has always shown an interest in the sport. In fact, he was a keen boxer growing up but eventually decided to play professional football and well, the rest is history.
But it sounds like he wants to bring out the gloves again. It was revealed earlier this month that Tyson Fury is preparing for a potential bout with Oleksandr Usyk by bringing in former Everton forward Rooney.
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No, really. Rooney is set to join the WBC heavyweight champion in his fight camp ahead of the expected unification title fight.
"I spoke to Wayne last night and he's well up for it," Fury said in an ITV interview. "But he's a right-handed person, so he has to switch up to be a southpaw, left-handed. So we're going to bring Wayne in for preparation for Usyk."
When asked if he was joking, Fury responded: "No, [I'm being] very very serious. He's agreed, so he's going to come into camp for about four weeks and help me. I'm a big fan of his as well."
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Rooney regularly attends Fury fights and he's a big fan.
"I think he's the best we've seen in a long time, and I don't think anyone will beat him. I think he's an absolute legend for what he's done for boxing," Rooney told talkSPORT after Fury's recent victory over Derek Chisora.
"He's entertaining, his skills are incredible, his mentality is incredible.
'If I'm being honest, I probably think he should be knighted because he hasn't been afraid to go abroad, he's won titles abroad, defended them abroad and he epitomises everything that boxing is."
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Thoughts on a potential match-up between Wayne Rooney and KSI? Who would come out on top?
Let us know in the comments.
Topics: Wayne Rooney, KSI, Boxing, Manchester United, DC United, YouTube