Steelers Former RB Le’Veon Bell Makes Shocking Misfits Boxing Debut In 2023

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Le’Veon Bell, who is currently a free agent, headlined a boxing match vs JMX last week at a Misfits Boxing event. The football player has not been with a team since leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January 2022. Now he is trying his luck in a new sport. He started his career in Pittsburgh playing with them from 2013 to 2018. He then made the move to the New York Jets from 2019 to 2020 before briefly playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. He then played for Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before becoming a free agent. 

Moving into a new sport can always be a gamble, especially when you go into something as physical and competitive as boxing. But Bell hopes that his experience with the tough tackles of American football will put him in a good place to go toe to toe with moving forward. While Bell may no longer play for the Steelers, based on the latest NFL odds, now is a good time to get behind the team. There are a number of ways to bet on the NFL, including NFL Teaser Bet, Round Robin Betting, Parlay Betting and Point Spread available online. With many ways to play, an easy method to deposit, and a great bonus offer, online sportsbooks predict that Steelers will remain in the playoff hunt, although Bell left the team after making $16 million over the span of four years a few seasons ago.

This was the sixth Misfits Boxing event to take place. Misfits was created by YouTuber, rapper, boxer and businessman KSI, who created it to be the home of influencer boxing. He himself fights in some of the events, including the inaugural line-up as well as the 4th event. His fights have been the biggest events so far in the series and he is set to fight Joe Fournier in the seventh Misfits event in May this year. 

While most of the events have taken place in the UK so far, this event was only the second to take place in America, with it happening in New Orleans and featuring a predominantly American line-up. That is why Bell was a good headliner for this event, as the American footballer perhaps would not draw in quite the same crowd over in the UK, but would attract a lot of football fans in the US to come and watch the fight. It shows an exciting direction in the crossover boxing game, proving that anyone can do it. Now we see that even some of the biggest stars in sports can go and fight off against influencers. 

Bell’s opponent for the Misfits fight last week, JMX, is a YouTuber with 3 fights and 3 wins under his belt. JMX defeated Coach Richard and Mike Fox in 2018 at an amateur level and returned to boxing in 2022 at the second Misfits events, beating Ginty. The producers of the event certainly had a lot of faith in JMX, making him a headliner. After having already appeared at a Misfits event suggests they had hoped that he could be a big name going forward in the Misfits future and can headline many events, much like they have been trying hard to do with Jay Swingler. 

Steelers' Bell’s Boxing Journey

Bell has long been vocal about starting a boxing career, stating that he had always planned to eventually retire from NFL and train to become a professional boxer. In the past, he has tweeted and called out Jake Paul saying that Paul only fights “small dudes who can’t box.” If Bell is to be successful going forward in the crossover boxing game, then surely he will be eyeing up a fight against Jake Paul, arguably the biggest name in influencer boxing right now. 

Bell has fought already, fighting Uriah Hall in October 2022, on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva fight. Hall, a mixed martial arts fighter, won the Arizona bout via unanimous decision. Prior to this, he had an exhibition fight with NFL veteran Adrian Peterson, winning the fight after knocking Peterson down in the fifth round and with him being unable to continue. 

Going into the fight at Misfits 6, it would probably be fair to say that JMX was the favorite, having a stronger boxing record and having already fought on a Misfits card, therefore knowing how to prepare for such an event. That being said, Bell knew how to handle such a high-pressured situation and is a natural athlete. He won by unanimous decision. Having played for several NFL teams, it is very likely that a fair few fans in the crowd were well aware of who Bell was, and that could've given him the edge as he was cheered on.

Bell also had to put his money where his mouth was, having been so vocal about his desire to start boxing. He needed to back up his words with a strong win. The Misfits 6 event is one of 9 Misfits boxing events that are taking place in 2023 in cities all around the world. There are plenty of ways to check it out and stay up to date with Misfits.