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NFL running backs Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell have signed a deal to face off in a boxing match at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on July 30, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.
The fight will reportedly be an exhibition on the undercard of Social Gloves 2.
TMZ Sports reported earlier Monday: “The fight card is already stacked with big names—as we previously reported, ex-NBA player Nick Young is fighting against rapper Blueface and McBroom is going up against YouTuber AnEsonGib.”
The celebrity boxing match trend has gained steam in recent years, with the YouTuber brothers of Jake and Logan Paul at the forefront.
Peterson, 37, played for the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks in 2021, rushing for just 98 yards and two touchdowns in four total games. The seven-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro selection and 2012 MVP is currently a free agent.
Bell, 30, is also a free agent. He played for the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021, rushing for 101 yards and two scores in eight games. Bell is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro.
The fact that the two men are reportedly in talks to participate in a boxing match in late July would suggest that neither is likely to be with an NFL team come the start of the 2022 season.
That doesn’t come as a major surprise for Bell, who considered retiring from the league in 2021 before the Bucs approached him and ultimately signed him in December.
“Yeah, I was going to be done,” he told reporters at the time. “I was at the point where I wasn’t really going to play football. I was going to focus on boxing. Once you get that phone call—it was like, ‘Oh yes, this is it.'”
It would appear that phone call hasn’t arrived for either man this offseason, however.
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