​Man Utd Legend and BT Sport Pundit Rio Ferdinand to Announce Plans to Take Up Professional Boxing

BT Sport pundit and Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand is set to announce his plans to enter the professional boxing world, according to a report from The Mirror.

BT Sport pundit and Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand is set to announce his plans to enter the professional boxing world, according to a report from The Mirror.

According to the report, the 38-year-old will announce ambitions to become a professional boxer on Tuesday at a scheduled a press conference.

Rio Ferdinand announces he is swapping the football pitch for the boxing ring 🥊 pic.twitter.com/4gF14WQA5i

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 19, 2017

The six-time Premier League champion is expected to make a "major news announcement" confirming his dramatic career change.

The former Leeds star is currently a pundit for BT Sport, and has maintained an impressive physique since his hanging his boots up in 2015, becoming a familiar face on the pundit circuit.

However, the former England international, who is close mates with heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, has made no secret of his determination to face the big boys in the ring, calling out the likes of David Haye and Tony Bellew on social media in recent weeks.

David Ramos/GettyImages

The London-born defender has been active on Instagram posting frequent videos of his boxing training regime, and looks to be taking his ring conditioning rather seriously.

Ferdinand now looks set to join former Birmingham midfielder Curtis Woodhouse in the small club of football players who turned to pro boxing after their football careers.

Woodhouse took to Twitter to voice his support of Ferdinand's decision, but also gave a stark warning; ‘My advice to Rio would be show the game the respect it deserves, he said. 'This is no joke, you can die "playing" boxing. I wish him well.’

Woodhouse went on to claim a British light-welterweight title in 2014, but Ferdinand will have his work cut out if he’s to emulate Woodhouse’s success in the heavyweight division.