This month the two former running backs Le’Veon Bell and Adrian Peterson will face each other in a boxing match. While one wants to hang up his NFL shoes, the other wants to do it again

Munich/Los Angeles – At the end of July, the time has already come: In the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the two former NFL running backs Le’Veon Bell and Adrian Peterson will face each other in a boxing match.

While Bell sees this as a launching pad for his boxing career, Peterson is still flirting with a job in the NFL.

Peterson wants to play – Bell doesn’t

At the press conference before his fight, the 39-year-old stressed he wants to return to professional football. “I can well imagine playing again in the near future. But it also depends on how things work out for me,” the former MVP said.

“First I’ll get ready for this fight and then we’ll see,” Peterson added.

The tenor was quite different for his counterpart Bell. At his presser, he swore off the NFL in the future. “I’m not going to play this year. I’m going to focus on boxing full time,” he announced.

“Last year I already wanted to make that transition from football player to boxer and now I’m ready to show everyone my skills.” Bell, however, did not let slip an official career end date.

The fight on 31 July at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers will not be an official fight, but will count as a so-called exhibition. No world ranking points or even points for the WBO world rankings will be awarded.