Celebrities Who Fought In Boxing Or MMA Matches

It seems like people who are famous for something other than boxing often want to try their hands in boxing. Whether it’s Black Chyna this past weekend, or the full boxing card of YouTubers vs TikTokers that took place in 2021, or Jake Paul pivoting to a legitimate professional boxing career in recent years, the fascination with fisticuffs is undeniable. Let’s take a look at some of the brave celebs who have stepped into a ring in the past.

1.

Kim Kardashian did a celebrity boxing match for charity in 2009, though unlike many of the others on this list, she wasn’t thrilled to partake, stating as much prior to the fight.

Though she ultimately lost the fight, Kim said, “Even though I didn’t win, I’m still so proud of myself for just going in there and holding my own.”

2.

Justin Trudeau, the now–prime minister of Canada, boxed a Canadian senator named Patrick Brazeau in March of 2012, and it was a BRAWL.

Trudeau (wearing red) kind of got beat up in the first round, taking a lot of punches while seemingly trying to get his bearings.

But in the second and third rounds, Trudeau responded well, battering Brazeau with flurries of punches that turned the crowd into fans, many chanting his name throughout it.

Here’s Brazeau’s face when the ref called off the fight after Trudeau landed a series of blows that bloodied his opponent’s nose.

The match was for charity, but there was a very WWE stipulation that the loser had to cut their hair off, which I suppose raised the stakes. Going in, Trudeau was widely expected to lose this fight, and even the announcers sound surprised/salty when the tides turn in the second round and he begins to dominate.

3.

Ricky Gervais did a charity boxing match in 2002, competing in three 90-second rounds.

In the end, the judges declared Gervais the winner. In a 2021 interview, Gervais reminisced on the fight, stating, “It was an amazing experience and it was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

4.

Idris Elba had a professional kickboxing fight in 2016, at 44 years of age, after training for an entire year to prepare.

Much of Elba’s preparation process was documented in a Discovery UK series, showing the time he spent training in Thailand, up to the August 2016 fight.

5.

Jake Gyllenhaal learned how to box for his role in Southpaw by training two times a day for five months.

While he didn’t have an official, publicized match, he said he did plenty of sparring for the movie. When asked by Howard Stern if training partners were allowed to hit him in the face, Gyllenhaal said, “They can hit my face, and they did hit my face, but we body sparred for the majority of the practice training sessions, then we got into full-on sparring.”

6.

Aaron Carter had a boxing match against another celeb in 2021. His opponent was…

7.

…Lamar Odom. If you have no recollection of this happening, you’re not alone.

The pairing seems a bit odd, as Carter is 6’0″ and 175 pounds with a 71-inch reach…

…while Odom is 6’10” and 239 pounds, with an 82-inch reach. That made him the larger man by 10 inches, 64 pounds, and 11 inches in reach.

Carter began aggressively, throwing a lot of punches but struggling to reach Lamar’s face due to the height discrepancy.

Odom quickly began using his reach advantage to land punches on Carter.

And in the second round, Odom landed so many punches that the ref stopped the fight and declared him winner.

8.

Dave Bautista is known for years as a top performer in WWE and starring in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Army of the Dead, and Dune, but back in 2012, he decided to fight in a mixed martial arts match.

This was Bautista’s first bout, and his opponent had 40+ fights under his belt, so experience-wise, he went into this one at a fairly large disadvantage.

Early on, Bautista faced some adversity, getting hit with several punches.

Eventually, Bautista managed to take his opponent down and land several blows until the fight was stopped and he was declared the winner.

9.

And finally, Rob Kardashian boxed during the same event as his sister, Kim. Upon stepping into the ring, he was immediately taken aback by the size of his opponent.