Freddie Flintoff turning pro!

[ILikeBeer]

The sport we love taken down another notch.
Get Michael McIntyre to ref.
Thought Comedy Channel would have snapped this up.

I thought Warren's channel did get it?

[The 1bangkid]

lol i love the man as a cricketer but as a boxer No this aint your clean living 30 something its freddie flintoff world class english cricket hero think of all the beer and the partys his been to his finished as a cricketer why would you go into a sport that is 100 times harder. Good luck to him but this aint gunna end well

[Counter-puncher]

gimmick.

[Bricks]

Flintoff is a ccunt in love with the limelight. His attack on Atherton was disgusting. If he ever steps in a pro ring he will get his fat ass face beaten in.

Holliake is a different kettle of fish he devoted himself to years to get in a cage fight at 41

[yiddo14]

"Freddie" does seem to love a spotlight.

Never really bought in to him being just a regular bloke, great for a night out etc. Seems a bit up himself when on that league of their own show.

No place to hide in the ring that's for sure!

[zero]

Nonsense, lets hope he doesn’t get a license or better still he does, and gets spanked. I’m really annoyed about this TBH, nothing but a idiot, lost the little respect I had for him.

[chad]

I think it's good for boxing, it opens up the sport to a new audience and generates interest in any card he fights on. If it's something Freddie wants to do and thinks he can do then good luck to him. Not as if he's going to get put in with David Haye or anyone like that, and he will sell tickets. Let's face it, he's doing something many of us would love to do.

I couldn't agree more. There's maybe one or two guys in my office who watch and talk about boxing to me. Today most people in our team where talking to us about the fight, what channel it was going to be on, what are his real intentions etc.... For once, people actually wanted to hear what we had to say about the sport

Personally I think Freddie fighting isn't a big deal. We've seen gimmick fights before that probably should have damaged the sport but didn't. James Toney Vs. Randy Couture, Dewey Bozella making his pro debut at 52 on the undercard of Hopkins Vs. Dawson II and Muhammad Ali Vs. Antonio Inoki. I would have also thrown Mickey Rourke into that list somewhere but he did actually have an amateur career.

Ticket sales and viewing figures will ultimately decide whether this will be a success or not.

[ShadrachSimmo]

Seems like a ploy just to get people to watch the documentary that Sky are making on him. Be good to see him getting knocked out though I hate cricket.

[ShadrachSimmo]

Seems like a ploy just to get people to watch the documentary that Sky are making on him. Be good to see him getting knocked out though I hate cricket.

[Bronxbull666]

I think it's good for boxing, it opens up the sport to a new audience and generates interest in any card he fights on. If it's something Freddie wants to do and thinks he can do then good luck to him. Not as if he's going to get put in with David Haye or anyone like that, and he will sell tickets. Let's face it, he's doing something many of us would love to do.

I couldn't agree more. There's maybe one or two guys in my office who watch and talk about boxing to me. Today most people in our team where talking to us about the fight, what channel it was going to be on, what are his real intentions etc.... For once, people actually wanted to hear what we had to say about the sport

Personally I think Freddie fighting isn't a big deal. We've seen gimmick fights before that probably should have damaged the sport but didn't. James Toney Vs. Randy Couture, Dewey Bozella making his pro debut at 52 on the undercard of Hopkins Vs. Dawson II and Muhammad Ali Vs. Antonio Inoki. I would have also thrown Mickey Rourke into that list somewhere but he did actually have an amateur career.

Ticket sales and viewing figures will ultimately decide whether this will be a success or not.

Some good examples. I hate the way people are stuck in the past about boxing, the less than casual fan thinks that Eubank, Benn, Tyson etc.... were the be all and end all. Sick of uneducated boxing conversations with friends, colleagues etc...

[ILikeBeer]

I recently wrote this on another forum, but it seems to apply to this discussion too;

You know the problem with boxing? It caters towards casual fans too much. You know the sort. The fan that occasionally watches a fight when he's got friends over and orders a pizza. Watches one fight a year, maybe two. People that watch fights regularly will probably end up caving and watching a fight they know is shit, just because they don't want to miss watching a sport they like watching. Most of us have probably ordered pay-per-views last minute when we know the fight isn't worth it, no matter what we tell ourselves we'll do.

Boxing thus becomes aimed at not the people who are actually hard-core fans, it gets aimed at people that might watch it occasionally. People that think an undefeated record is always an indication of quality. Or the ones who look at an overhyped prospect or an old has-been and goes; "I've heard of that guy, he must be good."

Basically, boxing craps all over the people who know anything about it and aims itself and extracting money out of people who barely watch it.

[Wales]

he could fight a couple of no hopers to get his record respectable before audley harrison comes out of the woodwork again mooting an eliminator for a WB bullshit crack at a 45 year old klitscho. alternatively he could be a future cleverly opponent.

Sorry state of affairs if a man with no fighting experience can put on a pair of gloves and beat a proffessional heavyweight who has been training for years. Surely even the worst of our HW's will beat him, unless theyre there to lose. For the credibility of the sport I hope whoever he fights goes in and cleans him - just to show the world that boxing isnt an easy sport.

Can you imagine Mike Tyson deciding with 6 months training he was going to play county cricket!

[Chambers2]

I can't see him doing much at HW, but fairplay to him for giving it a crack. Brave decision

The last person to make the cross over from another sport was 'The Great Curtis Woodhouse' and he's been exceptional in performance and attitude, so lets not condemn BIG Freddie too much

Freddie's a Legend........ A God among men!!!

[dondada]

Ticket sales and viewing figures will ultimately decide whether this will be a success or not.

Whilst I haven't got a problem with Flintoff trying to box, this argument is always wheeled out and it isn't one I agree with. Lots of things which would sell a load of tickets shouldn't be allowed to happen.

[milpool]

I can't see him doing much at HW, but fairplay to him for giving it a crack. Brave decision

The last person to make the cross over from another sport was 'The Great Curtis Woodhouse' and he's been exceptional in performance and attitude, so lets not condemn BIG Freddie too much

Freddie's a Legend........ A God among men!!!

To be fair to Curtis, he has put a lot of effort into his boxing. He's dedicated and he has goals and ambitions.

Not saying Freddie won't take this seriously but just on what I do know about him, I can't imagine that he'll make all the sacrifices that Curtis seems to have made in order to be a success.

Can you imagine Mike Tyson deciding with 6 months training he was going to play county cricket!

I'd pay a lot of money to see that!! DD

[chad]

Can you imagine Mike Tyson deciding with 6 months training he was going to play county cricket!

Well he's already tried his hand at professional wrestling, professional dancing, rapping, stand up comedy and acting with little to no training. I'd be dissapointed if he didn't try cricket

[chad]

I can see Freddie turning pro is an emotive issue. I can understand why people are concerned about the reputation of boxing and I can understand why people don’t want to see this.

What do people think of the Bigger’s Better series on Eurosport? To me this really is damaging the reputation of the sport. You’ve got 8 men competing against one another, in a Prizefighter format show, with little of no boxing training or experience. It’s essentially MMA with boxing gloves. I’ve seen some sickening punishment being taken during these events because the competitors don’t know how to properly protect themselves.

I posted earlier that ticket sales and viewing figures will determine the success of a show, and yes I fully acknowledge this shouldn’t be the only measure of success for a show. Bigger’s Better apparently gets poor viewing figures and is almost always competed in half empty venues. Who exactly is Bigger’s Better aimed at as boxing fans are turning their noses up at it.

[ILikeBeer]

I can see Freddie turning pro is an emotive issue. I can understand why people are concerned about the reputation of boxing and I can understand why people don’t want to see this.

What do people think of the Bigger’s Better series on Eurosport? To me this really is damaging the reputation of the sport. You’ve got 8 men competing against one another, in a Prizefighter format show, with little of no boxing training or experience. It’s essentially MMA with boxing gloves. I’ve seen some sickening punishment being taken during these events because the competitors don’t know how to properly protect themselves.

I posted earlier that ticket sales and viewing figures will determine the success of a show, and yes I fully acknowledge this shouldn’t be the only measure of success for a show. Bigger’s Better apparently gets poor viewing figures and is almost always competed in half empty venues. Who exactly is Bigger’s Better aimed at as boxing fans are turning their noses up at it.

I've seen that advertised, but never actually bothered to watch it. I take it I haven't missed anything.

[Chambers2]

Can you imagine Mike Tyson deciding with 6 months training he was going to play county cricket!

He's have been a natural with his quick hands

[Wales]

I feel like its a slap in the face for the sport and I hope whoever his opponent is goes in there and sparks him out in the first round just to show that boxing is a really tough sport and not something someone can just train for 6 months, for a TV show, and step in the ring.

As someone previously mentioned cracknell got his commeuppance, and couldve been really hurt considering he had a headguard on.

[ShadrachSimmo]

I can't see him doing much at HW, but fairplay to him for giving it a crack. Brave decision

The last person to make the cross over from another sport was 'The Great Curtis Woodhouse' and he's been exceptional in performance and attitude, so lets not condemn BIG Freddie too much

Freddie's a Legend........ A God among men!!!

I think Woodhouse was an exception he has done very well bearing in mind he was in his mid 20's when he turned pro and Flintoff is in his mid 30's. I would say someone making a successful transition from Football to Boxing or Rugby to Boxing is far more realistic than from Cricket to Boxing.

[Chambers2]

I feel like its a slap in the face for the sport and I hope whoever his opponent is goes in there and sparks him out in the first round just to show that boxing is a really tough sport and not something someone can just train for 6 months, for a TV show, and step in the ring.

As someone previously mentioned cracknell got his commeuppance, and couldve been really hurt considering he had a headguard on.

If he's matched carefully he'll be alright. Stick him in with Hastings Rasani for 4 rounds and see what happens

[Chambers2]

I can't see him doing much at HW, but fairplay to him for giving it a crack. Brave decision

The last person to make the cross over from another sport was 'The Great Curtis Woodhouse' and he's been exceptional in performance and attitude, so lets not condemn BIG Freddie too much

Freddie's a Legend........ A God among men!!!

I think Woodhouse was an exception he has done very well bearing in mind he was in his mid 20's when he turned pro and Flintoff is in his mid 30's. I would say someone making a successful transition from Football to Boxing or Rugby to Boxing is far more realistic than from Cricket to Boxing.

HW's are a lot older than Welters, so the age difference is not such a BIG thing.

I agree that Curtis has been excellent and maybe the exception to the rule, but give Freddie a chance he may be another exception. It's gonna be difficult for him, but respect to him for having a go. Can't understand the criticsm

If Freddie dedicates himself then he should get support off the boxing fans IMO, if he's just entering the sport for a bit of a laugh it could be a short career path

GWAAAAN FREDDIE!!!!

[yiddo14]

Curtis trained from a young un though. Sneaking off to spar during his early days as a footballer etc.

Flintoff ain't no exception. Seen him on the pads and bag? My mrs has more raw talent, no joke!

It's a gimmick. You will all see come fight night. He will make James Cracknell look like a prime Ali.

[Coco]

Typically the board don't license debutants over 35