London (AFP) – Former England footballer Rio Ferdinand is due to announce on Tuesday he is going to try and become a professional boxer just two months away from his 39th birthday, according to the Daily Telegraph. 

Ferdinand, who won 81 caps and made over 300 appearances for Manchester United, is an avid boxing fan and has said spending time boxing in the gym has helped clear his head after losing his wife and the mother of his three children Rebecca Ellison to breast cancer in 2015.

Ferdinand, who has become a respected TV pundit since hanging up his boots in 2015, is due to make what has been termed “a major news announcement” on Tuesday but will need to convince the British Boxing Board of Control he merits a licence.

He wouldn’t be the first footballer to turn to a career in the ring as former Sheffield United striker Curtis Woodhouse won the British light-welterweight title in 2012.