Kimbo Slice Makes Boxing Debut on August 13

According to a press release, Kimbo Slice will make his professional boxing debut on August 13 at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla., with an opponent yet to be named:

Forget the kicking and wrestling, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson will soon be where he should have been all along... busting heads in a boxing ring.

On Saturday, August 13, legendary street brawler Kimbo Slice will make his long-awaited professional boxing debut in the four-round main event of a Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions boxing extravaganza at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma.

Slice became the Internet's first street-certified action hero by smashing down a series of opponents in brutal backyard fist fights. The announcement is good news for fight fans, as he will surely administer a much-needed shot of adrenaline into the American heavyweight scene.

"Kimbo was always meant to be in the ring," said Jared Shaw, Team Kimbo Promotional Advisor. "He's one of the hardest punchers in the world and on August 13, his journey to becoming America's heavyweight begins. The first stop will be Oklahoma in what will become the Kimbo Slice Express."

This is typical promotional stuff, but, man, let me tell you now: He'll beat up a few hand-picked cans and they might be able to get him some kind of fight at some point, but Kimbo is 37 years old and only has mild training. As soon as he fights a real opponent, he'll lose. His boxing career isn't likely to go any further than his MMA career did, and in MMA he was eventually exposed as not being that hard of a puncher along with his lack of versatility. I mean, yes, he punches pretty hard, but these aren't fatties in parking lots anymore.

The Shaw family belief in Kimbo's star power is kind of admirable, though it's pretty crazy. At what point does it become the same thing as still saying "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" like it's the funniest thing in the world? This is really the last chance to do anything much with him, and I wouldn't expect "much" to come of this.

Still, best of luck to him. He's a nice guy, a charismatic guy, and I think if he'd gone into boxing when he was younger, he might have been able to do something. It's just that now he's closing in on 40 and any real success going pro at 37 would be kind of unprecedented, and forgive me if I don't think Kimbo Slice is a once-in-a-lifetime pro athlete.