REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo
- All-time soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo says he prefers to watch boxing or MMA on TV to football.
- Speaking to middleweight boxing star Gennady Golovkin in a new documentary, Ronaldo said that while football is his “passion,” he’d rather unwind by watching people going toe-to-toe in the ring or Octagon.
- Despite his love of combat sports, Ronaldo said he’s unlikely to get in the ring any time soon, saying: “I don’t think so,” when asked by Golovkin if he could see himself as a fighter.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players ever to walk on a football pitch, but once he steps off the field, he hasn’t got much interest in watching the sport he has dominated for over a decade.
Speaking to middleweight boxing star Gennady Golovkin in a new documentary produced by OTT sports broadcaster DAZN, Ronaldo said that once he’s done playing soccer, he would rather kick back by watching some combat sports, either the UFC or a boxing match.
“Playing football is my passion, but I prefer watching other sports on TV,” the Portuguese star told IBF middleweight champion Golovkin.
“Between watching a football match or a boxing or UFC fight, I choose boxing or UFC,” he continued.
While saying he loves to watch the sport, Ronaldo acknowledged that he’s not really the boxing type, asked by Golovkin: “Do you think you could be a fighter?”
He simply replied: "I don't think so."
Screenshot/DAZN/YouTube
He did, however, say that as a youngster he did some boxing, training with one of the coaches at Manchester United, where he played between 2003 and 2009.
"When I was at Manchester United, a coach boxed with me," he said. "I think practicing boxing is useful for football because it sharpens your senses and you learn to move."
DAZN's documentary, called "Parallel Worlds," aims to show two elite athletes close to the top of their respective games discussing the similarities and differences between themselves and the sports they love.
During the documentary, Ronaldo and Golovkin also discussed their upbringings, and the nature of masculinity, with Ronaldo saying it is "good to be an emotional person."
"Who told you that men don't cry?" - he asked.
The documentary includes footage of Golovkin giving Ronaldo some tips on punching, leading Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn to joke on Twitter that Ronaldo could fight on cards for DAZN's Italian business in the future.
—Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) December 15, 2020
Hearn has a co-promotional deal with Golovkin, meaning the Kazakh's fights are broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK, and on DAZN in the US.
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