Five Celebrities you didn't know used to box

 Celebrities you didn't know used to box

Source: The Sun

  Celebrity boxing has become quite the trend in recent years with many personalities from a wide variety of entertainment fields stepping into the squared circle for our amusement. 

From Ex-Basketball players to TV icons and even social media stars from platforms such as Tiktok and Youtube.

So today at BestOfBoxing we are going to look at five celebrities who have tried their hand at boxing as a hobby rather than for one of today’s cash grab events.

5. Mickey Rourke

Source: deadline.com

The iconic Mickey Rourke is the first name on our list, the actor is most famous in recent years for his role as the villain in Iron Man 2. 

From 1964 to 1973, Rourke compiled an amateur boxing record of 27 wins (17 by knockout) and 3 defeats. At one point, he reportedly scored 12 consecutive first-round knockouts.

Rourke retired in 1973 after a series of concussions that led his doctor advising him to take time away from the sport however he did return in 1991 and had eight fights in three years with 6 wins and 2 draws. He retired once more but came back in 2014 for an exhibition fight in Moscow  to beat Elliot Seymour - a man 33 years his junior.

4.Billy Joel 

Source: billyjoel.com

Joel began boxing as a teenager in order to defend himself. He boxed effectively in the amateur Golden Gloves circuit for a brief period, winning 22 bouts before retiring from the sport after breaking his nose in his 24th contest.

Little is known about What weight class Joel fought at but it is assumed that at 5’5 and fairly lean he was most likely a featherweight or lightweight. 

3. Ray Winstone 

Source: Daily Mail

Winstone, who is known for playing ‘tough-guy’ characters in film  and tv was once supposedly a feared amateur.

The East London lad reportedly won 80 out of his 88 bouts fighting out of a gym in Bethnal Green. He was the London schoolboy welterweight champion three times and even boxed for England a couple of times. 

Whilst he is a lifelong boxing fan he admitted in an interview that he simply wasn’t good enough to make it as a pro.

2. Danny Trejo

Source: SAcurrent.com

Another Hollywood tough guy makes our list and this ones slightly different to the others. The legendary Trejo was in and out of prison for the best part of 11 years. He won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles while incarcerated in San Quentin.

This addition to the list is no surprise realistically and it is reported that he was in fact very skilled with a pair of gloves on and gained the respect of many of his fellow inmates for his abilities.

1.Eddie Hearn

Source: The Sun

Yes that’s right, everyone's favourite  loud mouth promoter was once a boxer in his own right. The man most famous for being Anthony Joshua’s promoter and Instagram meme has claimed to have had a few amateur bouts under his belt.

However the 6’5 Londoner also admitted he was “terrible” and was much better suited to promotion than actually fighting.

It’s no surprise Hearn got into boxing as a youth as he was constantly surrounded by boxing icons such as Chris Eubank Sr due to his Father Barry Hearn who started Matchroom boxing promotions - The company Eddie now spearheads.