Rio Ferdinand, no doubt, can take the jibes. If there is ridicule surrounding some reaction to his announcement to test himself in the boxing ring, he’s heard a lot worse on the pitch. Being backed by Betfair and a TV crew that will cultivate a documentary from this, he has taken some criticism. Whether it is justified or not, is another thing.
Often, what defines your successes in life and sport, are the people you surround yourself with. If Richie Woodhall is anything to judge this on, Rio Ferdinand is starting off on the right foot. The former WBC super-middleweight titleholder is known for his sincerity and honesty.
In 1998 he was ill-prepared when he defeated Glenn Catley in his first title defence. He didn’t feel he deserved to win and he told the cameras as much, post-fight. Ferdinand will be prepared well.
Former Harlequins and Sale Sharks centre Mel Deane, is Ferdinand’s personal trainer. He will continue in his role as he aides the former Manchester United central defender to get conditioned for the ring. But it was something Deane said, that illuminated that this is more than someone looking to capitalise on a once off spectacle.
“I think it’s actually good he can focus on something. His kids are happy. He’s in a good place. So let him do what he likes.”
In saying this, Deane is reflecting what Ferdinand has said himself. In addition to talking of how the challenge of trying himself in a new sport was alluring, he also spoke about the huge importance that time in the gym has given him. Importance in terms the relief. Relief from stress and relief from grief.
Whilst seeing out the autumn of his career at Queens Park Rangers, Rio Ferdinand’s wife Rebecca Ellison was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015. Despite admittance to a specialist cancer treatment centre in The Royal Marsden hospital in Chelsea, she passed away three months later, at 34. In July of this year, he lost his mother, Janice, at 58, again to cancer.
Raising three children, aged between six and eleven, Ferdinand has spoken publicly of grief and how he had to explain their mother’s premature death to his kids. It’s obvious, but relevant to observe that the last two years have been tragic and painful. Loss of a wife. A mother. And the dynamics of his own role as a parent and son, challenged and changed, permanently.
His search for meaning will always be his own private journey. But in exercise and boxing, he has found a release valve. A way to clear his mind and help maintain his mental health. He said as much when he spoke to Men’s Health magazine, stating “Until you start working out regularly, you don’t understand it. You don’t understand that sometimes that hour, or even that brief 20 minutes you snatch as and when, can be the most chilled out hour or 20 minutes of your day.”
This move into competitive boxing, is for him, the next logical step. For some it is a risk – how can someone who didn’t learn the ropes on the amateur scene, be expected to able to justify his existence in the ring with a nuanced boxer – whether he be a journeyman or not. Will he let himself down, or more importantly, be irrevocably hurt?
Is the financial side of this the motivator? It would appear not, all though that’s his own business. But the impression is, it’s about more than that.
Ferdinand has reached a level of fitness and physicality, whereby he feels he can test himself beyond what might have been expected – by both others and himself. But what’s of real significance, is what testing yourself can bring.
Not if he can make use of a long reach or has the footwork and stamina, but the emotional freedom and mental fortitude afforded to stepping out of your comfort zone.
Mental health is a topic, that as a society, we are becoming more educated about, more mature and sensitive to in our views. But one of the relative unknowns about emotional pain, grief and pain; is that stepping out of your comfort zone can sometimes be the greatest liberator of all.
The feeling of exposure and overcoming preconceived perceptions of your own ability, can give your mind genuine room to breathe.
It’s not necessarily about success or failure, winning or losing in what might be one just one bout. It is about leaving yourself exposed and taking the punches. But most importantly the release of raw emotion. That can be the biggest healer of all.