Former NFL stars Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell agree to July exhibition boxing match

We’ve got boxing’s next great exhibition match on tap!

ESPN is reporting that Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell — who were once two of the best running backs in the NFL, with Peterson a no-doubt Hall of Famer — have inked a deal to take their physicality inside a boxing ring, scheduled to meet in a July 30 exhibition match to be held at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.

Neither former football star has fought professionally before, and this technically still won’t be their first time as this will take place as an exhibition and not a sanctioned professional fight. Either way, though, it’ll be two large men throwing heavy-handed blows at one another.

This Peterson vs Bell matchup is set to be held on the undercard of Social Gloves 2, which features a main event between YouTubers Austin McBroom and AnEsonGib, with rapper Blueface also set to face former NBA player Nick Young. An event for the ages.

The 30-year-old Bell was a standout for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2013-17, before a holdout kept him out of the full 2018 season. His career hit a wall there. He played for the New York Jets in 2019 and two games in 2020, before nine games with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, and five with the Baltimore Ravens and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.

Peterson, 37, had a legendary run with the Minnesota Vikings from 2007-13, and another great season with the team in 2015. Since 2016, he’s been a journeyman, playing for the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders (then Redskins), Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks.

The two will be following in the footsteps of Frank Gore, another longtime NFL running back who has turned to boxing recently.