Former Man Utd star who knocked out Wayne Rooney ready to become second ex-Red Devil to join Misfits Boxing

A SECOND former Manchester United player is ready to join Misfits Boxing.

Phil Bardsley famously showed his boxing skills when he knocked out Wayne Rooney in the kitchen.

And he hopes to take inspiration from Danny Simpson by stepping into the ring for a proper bout.

Simpson put his Premier League winner's medal from the 5,000-1 Leicester City success on the line when he drew with Danny Aarons at Misfits 17 in August.

Now former Red Devils team-mate Bardsley is keen to follow in his footsteps, by lacing up the gloves and joining the KSI-founded promotion.

The ex-defender, 39, said: "I’d certainly be interested in getting into the ring like Danny Simpson. I’ve had people ask me the question and I spoke to Simo about it recently.

"I’ve spoken to Wayne Rooney about a potential fight of his own but the issue he has is that he wants to manage and coach and it would be a bit stupid to go on Misfits or something like that and fight a YouTuber when he’s coaching.

"But for me, I’m keen, Simo has spoken to someone at Misfits who spoke to some YouTubers but I don’t think there has been any takers yet which is unfortunate because I like to think I can give it a go.

"If someone offered me a few quid for a fight, I certainly wouldn't turn it down."

On the day the news broke in The Sun and the video of the dust-up went viral, Rooney responded by scoring against Tottenham and then did his knockout celebration.

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And though that fight had a very limited audience in the privacy of Rooney's Cheshire home, his close pal reckons the former England captain could light up Wembley again - in the ring rather than in the box.

Bardsley - who launched his own property business after retiring - added to : "We had no idea that the boxing clip would go viral because we didn’t even know it was being filmed.

"It then got released and sold and it was just one of those things, we’d probably had one too many drinks and then got the gloves out.

"People sometimes forget that we are just normal lads from normal backgrounds and that’s just what lads do sometimes.

"We had a swing and chinned each other a few times, we both like our boxing and I got the better of him on that occasion.

"Wayne Rooney vs Jake Paul would definitely sell out Wembley, you can imagine the audience that would bring in, both in person and online as well.

Would Wayne beat Jake Paul? It’s tricky because Jake Paul has done it for a long time now and Wayne hasn’t done it at that level in front of a huge audience

Phil Bardsley

"The younger generation would be mad on all the build-up and the clips on their phones, the influencer boxing scene is huge and they’re filling their pockets now.

"Would Wayne beat Jake Paul? It’s tricky because Jake Paul has done it for a long time now and Wayne hasn’t done it at that level in front of a huge audience.

"He played football in front of millions before Jake Paul was on the scene but fair play to him, now he is doing it on the big stage and getting paid fortunes.

"I’m not sure about him fighting Mike Tyson though, a 20-something lad fighting a 58-year-old, it’s bonkers.

"You can understand it financially but I couldn’t fight a 60-year-old man for whatever amount of money. But that’s just me."