Manchester United striker Michael Owen, signed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a free agent last summer, has revealed that had he not pursued a career in football then he would have taken up boxing.
Weighing in at a cool 154lbs, the diminutive goal-poacher would rank as a junior-middleweight and, should he have made it to world level as a professional, could now be coming up against the likes of England's European champ Ryan 'Spice Boy' Rhodes, awkward yet towering American Paul Williams and powerful Puerto Rican Kermit 'the Killer' Cintron.
He recently told the Soccer AM programme: "I would definitely have taken an interest in another sport [if I wasn’t a footballer].
"I boxed for three or four years and had about two bouts and that was quite enjoyable. I was quite good at snooker - maybe snooker.
"Although now when I look back I think I'm small enough to have been a jockey."
Owen is not the only enthusiast of the sweet science on the books at Old Trafford. England golden boy Wayne Rooney was an amateur boxer prior to his lucrative footballing career, and even carried one of Ricky 'the Hitman' Hatton's world championship belts to the squared circle for his Las Vegas fight against Jose Luis Castillo in 2007.