Celebrity Boxing: Who’ll Win?

Now that Celebrity Wrestling has been made to walk the plank, we’ll never get to see people who aren’t really famous batter each other on television, right?

Wrong!

Everyone knows that wrestling is all leotards and prancing and choreography and nobody really gets hurt. To see people actually repeatedly smashing their fists into each other’s noses until one of them is so concussed or brain damaged that they can’t stand up, you need boxing! So now, to satisfy the huge bloodlust/famous people crossover market, comes Celebrity Boxing! Let’s take a look at the pugilists, with help, as ever, from Betfair.com.

But first, a history lesson. In the past, the Celebrity Boxing programmes on TV were a bit rubbish. First was Bob Mortimer Vs Les Dennis. It was a close run competition, mainly because neither fighter wanted to get hit. Then came Ricky Gervais Vs Grant Bovey. This was only loosely a boxing match, and it ended up looking more like two big octopuses in a playground than a real fight.

Afterwards, all the contenders did the sportsmanlike thing and
praised each other. That’s not likely to happen in the new fight,
scheduled to be televised on June 4. It’s between Rhino -once in Gladiators - and Michael Carroll, everyone’s favourite ‘Lotto Lout’. And they hate each other!

A few days ago, during some advance publicity event for the fight, a
bout of typical boxing trash-talk turned into a fully-fledged brawl.
This could be a super-violent match. Let’s have a closer look…

Rhino (real name Mark Smith) is 34 years-old. His heroes include Nelson Mandela, he enjoys listening to the music of Marvin Gaye, and he "likes all food". He’s professionally strong, and that’s why he’s the favourite. Current odds 1/5.

Michael Carroll is 22 years old. He won £9.7 million on the
National Lottery. He enjoys burning camper vans in the grounds of his
mock-Spanish villa in Norfolk. He was previously professionally a
binman. Current odds - 9/8

Neither one of these fighters can be discounted. Rhino has weight
and experience behind him, while Carroll has youth up his sleeve, not
to mention all his pikey fighting tricks.

To see how the odds develop before the fight, head on over to Betfair.com, where you can also have a flutter on the winner.

Get free bets when you join Betfair.com! Enter the promotional code WEB111 during sign-up for £10 free, or WEB222 for £20 free

[story by Stuart Heritage]