Former England captain Wayne Rooney refuses to rule out fighting with KSI’s Misfits Boxing promotion after ‘being in talks for big-money bout’

Wayne Rooney has refused to take part in a big-money fight with Misfits Boxing.

The Manchester United legend confirmed that KSI promotion had been in contact about a possible fight.

He claimed that ‘a few’ had gotten in touch to try to get him to swap the football pitch for the ring following his sacking by Birmingham City on January 2.

Asked by Gary Neville on the Stick to football podcast or he was going to fight, Rooney teased fans. “You never know,” he said.

‘They’ve reached out and asked the question, but I think at the moment I want to concentrate on my return to management, not boxing.

He confirmed that Misfits Boxing and others had been in ‘contact’ and teased that you ‘never know’ what could happen

‘They have been in contact to fight, yes. There have been a few and obviously Misfits have been in contact and it’s been all over the news.”

“Not a great title, is it?” joked Jamie Carragher.

Rooney added: “Listen, I want to focus on my return to management. That’s my focus. And I’ve seen all the headlines over the last few days, but my main focus is on getting back to playing football.

Since launching in 2022, Misfits has welcomed a slew of celebrities and potential stars.

Internet sensations like KSI, Logan Paul, and Jay Swingler, music stars like Rak-Su’s Ashley and Myles, and a host of other personalities have participated.

It is streamed on DAZN, attracts millions of pay-per-view fans and has visited venues in England and the United States.

Despite his disaster at Birmingham, where he replaced John Eustace and dropped from sixth to 20th in the Championship, Rooney’s managerial career has shown some semblance of promise.

He won admirers as he endured a difficult spell at Derby County, suffering a 21-point deduction and relegation from the Championship in 2021/22.

Rooney is a big boxing fan and regularly attends fights (pictured with Paul Smith)

KSI helped found Misfits Boxing in 2022 and has grown into a major, but criticized and controversial promotion

He then managed DC United in the MLS, but won only 14 of the 53 games he was in charge.

Rooney will be hoping to do better on his boxing debut than when he was famously knocked out by then United team-mate Phil Bardsley.

The two players were sparring in Rooney’s kitchen and Bardsley caught the striker and knocked him to the ground. A video later emerged showing the knockdown and the story made national news.

Rooney then performed an iconic celebration in which he referenced the incident as he pretended to be knocked out as he scored against Tottenham at Old Trafford days later.

Bardsley recalled the hilarious moment on the UTD Podcast in 2021. “We were having drinks, laughing, playing guitar and the next thing you know, these boxing gloves appear! I thought, ‘what’s going on here?’

“So my brother comes up, starts working with Wazza and he obviously loves boxing, right? He likes demolition. And then I think: ‘give us them, I’ll try’.

“He throws a few bombs and it’s clear he’s a big boy, right? Strong. We exchange blows – Crocky’s boy (Croxteth) and Salford’s boy, there’s no stopping us!

“He just ran into a bump. He was only absent for a few seconds, but we all panicked: what’s going on here?

Rooney added that he wants to ‘focus on his return to management’ after being sacked by Birmingham

‘We didn’t know what to do, panic posts and we had no phone signal. ‘We all thought, “If he doesn’t open his eyes, we can’t call an ambulance, there’s no signal.” So much panic!

“Anyway, he comes over and goes to the sink. I have a big cut on my lip, blood everywhere and he has some blood under his nose and we just look at each other and laugh.”