Athletes and Celebs We Want to See in a Boxing Ring
Fans can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be nice to see some of the most vocal athletes and fiercest of rivals simply strap gloves on and duke it out in a ring.
An oft-rumored bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather sure helps get the brainstorming going, right?
Well, Soulja Boy and Chris Brown trying to organize a fight doesn't hurt either—and they're making more progress than McGregor-Mayweather.
TOP NEWS
Saturday Night Main Event Live Grades 🔠
Kyle Busch's Cause of Death Released
Report: MLB Vet Unretires After 1 Day
Once in the water, it turns out this topic isn't such a shallow pool. Some guys we'd like to just see step into the ring because they're physical freaks. Others because unresolved beef remains and it would be rather fun to watch them go at it in the ring.
No matter the reason, all these stars and celebrities flirting with the idea of boxing has made it easy to drum up a wish list.
Drake vs. Meek Mill
| 30 | Age | 29 |
| 5'11" | Height | 6'2" |
| 170 | Weight | 200 |
| Toronto | Hometown | Philadelphia |
Hey, Drake and Meek Mill are staples on NBA sidelines these days.
Drake loves his Toronto Raptors and Meek Mill loves his Philadelphia 76ers. Poetic for a pair of rappers, really—Drake is the established contender like Kyle Lowry and the Raptors, Meek is the up-and-comer like the 76ers and Joel Embiid.
The two step in the ring right now though and...yeah. These two throwing hands would probably go just like their actual diss tracks, where Drake got the global attention while Meek got low-key respect. In the ring, Drake would land the big blows but Meek would get the credit for hanging tough.
As far as celebrity sports fans go, this is about as realistic as it could get—and crazy entertaining.
Jalen Ramsey vs. Steve Smith
| 22 | Age | 37 |
| 6'1" | Height | 5'9" |
| 211 | Weight | 195 |
| Nashville | Hometown | Los Angeles |
How about a young vs. new battle and a potential passing-of-the-torch moment?
Baltimore Ravens wideout Steve Smith is on his way out. One of the toughest guys to ever play the game, he's a natural target for something like boxing.
Why not pit him against a young defender who had problems with Smith this year?
Jalen Ramsey of the Jacksonville Jaguars straight-up said he didn't respect Smith as a man, according to NFL.com's Jeremy Bergman.
That's something you step in the boxing ring over, folks. The rookie would either get whipped by his senior who paved the way for him or assume the throne.
No matter how it plays out, onlookers win.
Draymond Green vs. LeBron James
| 26 | Age | 32 |
| 6'7" | Height | 6'8" |
| 230 | Weight | 250 |
| Saginaw | Hometown | Akron |
Can we just do this darn thing already?
Everybody wants to see LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers do something else. A man of his stature and athleticism, while one of the best to ever ball, is a natural fit in other sports like football.
Believe it or not, James' arch-nemesis, Draymond Green, isn't as physically over matched as one would think.
These two, of course, have a long history with each other and haven't stopped:
Having the two tape up the hands and let 'em fly seems like a reasonable enough way to settle this.
Probably money better spent than many pay-per-views these days.
Charles Oakley and Charles Barkley
| 53 | Age | 53 |
| 6'8" | Height | 6'6" |
| 245 | Weight | 252 |
| Cleveland | Hometown | Leeds |
How about a little senior division action?
NBA legends Charles Oakley and Charles Barkley never liked each other. Never. These dudes trying to have a fistfight in a preseason game says it all:
More recently, Oakley has called out Barkley, an Inside the NBA analyst, for disrespecting the city of Cleveland. Oakley still wants to make something happen after hearing about the Soulja Boy-Chris Brown situation.
No offense to those two rappers, but we'd much rather see this over-50 heavyweight showdown with a decade of bad blood ready to get settled.
Conor McGregor vs. Randy Orton
| 28 | Age | 36 |
| 5'9" | Height | 6'5" |
| 155 | Weight | 250 |
| Dublin | Hometown | Knoxville |
McGregor is a popular guy.
The man managed to make the entire WWE roster angry with a single tweet:
The WWE realm responded, helping it seem worthwhile to think about what would happen if McGregor stepped into the ring with a WWE superstar.
Granted, WWE is a scripted sport. But all on the roster are some of the best athletes in the world and many of them practice one form of mixed martial arts or another.
So in this scenario, put a dude with a size advantage like Randy Orton up against the trained McGregor and see what happens. After all, Orton has been one of the most vocal about McGregor and his comments.
Who doesn't want to see the UFC vs. WWE beef finalized?
CM Punk vs. Chris Brown
| 38 | Age | 27 |
| 6'1" | Height | 6'1" |
| 170 | Weight | 157 |
| Chicago | Hometown | Tappahannock |
Chris Brown is a pretty popular guy as well.
Brown got into a Twitter beef with former WWE superstar turned UFC fighter CM Punk a few years back, and no, we aren't willing to just let it go.
Punk walked out on professional wrestling and tried his hand at UFC, only to get creamed by Mickey Gall. Fine, Punk achieved a dream and became a trained fighter along the way.
If there is someone who could probably goad Brown into actually stepping into the ring, it is a wordsmith like Punk.
Seeing Punk in the ring with someone he can handle and Brown actually have a chance to back up his words would be golden.
Richard Sherman vs. Sports Journalist
| 28 | Age | 28-40 |
| 6'3" | Height | 5'5" - 6'0" |
| 195 | Weight | 160-200 |
| Compton | Hometown | USA |
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has decided to wage a one-man war against the media.
Sherman is the guy who recently threatened to pull a reporter's press credentials and harm their career, later apologizing after it got picked up by a mic and reported. He's went on to boycott most media.
So yeah, it would be fun to set up Sherman in one corner and let a writer have a crack at him and vice versa. Said writer can be anyone.
More than anything it is about getting a motivated Sherman in the ring. One of the NFL's biggest trash talkers having to back up the chatter would make for some interesting viewing material.
Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Josh Norman
| 24 | Age | 29 |
| 5'11" | Height | 6'0" |
| 198 | Weight | 200 |
| Baton Rouge | Hometown | Greenwood |
Come on, NFL fans have been waiting on this for years.
Ever since New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. tried to decapitate cornerback Josh Norman, folks have wanted to see a ring slapped down in the middle of a football field and the two locked inside it.
Let's not pretend these two have kissed and made up either. The two were once again going at it and drawing flags during a recent meeting.
Good luck actually figuring out who wins this fight. Norman had better be careful though—Beckham is apparently great at punching holes in stuff.
Vontaze Burfict vs. James Harrison
| 26 | Age | 38 |
| 6'1" | Height | 6'0" |
| 250 | Weight | 242 |
| Los Angeles | Hometown | Akron |
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is one of the most disliked players in the NFL, mostly for his perceived dirty play. Same story for Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison.
Seeing as the Bengals and Steelers hate each other, why not take the two baddest, dirty dudes from the roster and put them in the ring together?
The problem here, of course, is the reputation these guys have. Them actually playing by the rules of a boxing match doesn't seem likely.
Just don't be the unlucky guy or gal who has to act as referee.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor
| 39 | Age | 28 |
| 5'8" | Height | 5'9" |
| 151 | Weight | 155 |
| Grand Rapids | Hometown | Dublin |
People really want to see Mayweather return to action for a bout against McGregor, the biggest loudmouth (that's a good thing) in sports. The national treasury would probably have to print more money because of the dough this pay-per-view would bring in.
Unlike Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao, this one would actually be worth the price of admission—these guys would have something to prove after the droves of personal trash talk they would stoop to beforehand.
UFC president Dana White has already tried to drop $50 million to make this happen. No dice. As the report notes, though, McGregor has a boxing license in the state of California, so it only feels like a matter of time.
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
