MARK SMITH has enjoyed quite a remarkable career change.
From starring as Rhino on hit UK TV show Gladiator and featuring in EastEnders, he is now entering the boxing ring.
Smith, 54, is facing off with GB News panellist Adam Brooks on KSI’s Misfits Boxing 011.
However, he ahead of the fight he has admitted Smith was not his first choice bout.
Instead, he was targeting a fight with John Fury, the father of heavyweight champion Tyson and ex-Love Island star Tommy.
But this fight was a non-starter after he was told he was too heavy for him by Misfits’ co-president Mams Taylor.
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Though that has not dulled his excitement for his influencer boxing debut.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I’m extremely excited, this is for Misfits Boxing, KSI is obviously huge here.
“The youngsters are into this, it’s crazy the following they have. Myself and Mams were speaking, I said, ‘I would love to fight John Fury.’
“But he said, ‘what? He’s 100 pounds heavier than you!’ He said, ‘how much do you weigh?’
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“And when I told him how much I weighed, he said, ‘there’s no way we can match you up, he’s 100 pounds heavier than you.’
“And I said, ‘well is there anyone else?’ So he said, ‘leave it with me and I’ll get back to you’, and long story short, about four weeks ago, he said, ‘can you get down to 173lbs?’
“That’s 12st 5lbs, and I haven’t been that light since I was 17-years-old, I’m 54 now.
“But consistency is key, I cleaned up my diet a little bit, dropped a few pounds, increased the sparring and the running and we’re all on schedule.”
Smith spent four years on Gladiators between 1995 and 1999.
He has turned in his lowest body weight in 37 years for tonight’s fight.
Regardless he has a plan to bear Brooks, who stopped Bachir Fakhouri in a charity fight in September.
He said: “If he comes for a war and comes out swinging straight away, we’re prepared for that.
“If he comes out to box and is more stand-offish and wants to box throughout the rounds, we’re prepared for that.
“Have I seen any footage? Not really. He’s undefeated, he had a 30-second knockout in September, there’s not much really to go on.”
The main card for tonight’s event will get going from 7pm.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
