Wayne Rooney touted for huge sporting event despite recently taking Birmingham City job

Eddie Hearn wants to set up a fight between Wayne Rooney and Jake Paul.

The boxing promoter revealed to Gary Neville when he appeaed on the Stick to Football podcast that he believes a fight between the American YouTube star and new Birmingham City boss Rooney had the potential to be a huge money making event.

Rooney boxed as an amateur when he was a teenager and is a big fan of the game. Hearn revealed on the show that Rooney has messaged him in the past about potentially fighting. The promoter said: “He won’t mind me saying but after every big fight, especially with a YouTuber, sometimes Rooney will fire me a message.”

“Rooney had a very limited amateur pedigree but could still fight,” Hearn said.

He went on to suggest that with some training, Rooney fighting against Paul at Old Trafford could be a huge event. It’s a fight that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon of course, though, as the former England captain was named the new Birmingham City manager last week.

Paul, 26, is an American social media star who became famous on the seven-second video sharing app Vine. He later starred in Disney Channel series Bizaardbark and built a large following alongside his older brother Logan on YouTube.

After building a huge YouTube fanbase, Paul got involved in the boxing craze that swept up many YouTubers. His first amateur boxing match was the undercard fight with YouTuber Deji, the younger brother of KSI, ahead of the main fight between KSI and Paul’s brother Logan. Paul beat Deji by technical knockout in the fifth round.

Paul has since become a big name in YouTube boxing, with his events generating a lot of money. He has so far participated in seven professional boxing matches, winning the first six but losing the seventh fight against professional boxer Tommy Fury by split decision.