As the 2021 season was kicking off, Bell was more entrenched in boxing, but eventually Baltimore came calling, and then Tampa.
“I think that’s kinda where I was right in that position where I want to box. And I still was playing football a little bit here and there, but it’s like, that’s what kinda was slowing me down,” Bell said. “I felt like football was slowing me down in that moment. I finished that football season, all the way up to February. And since February of 2022, I’ve been boxing nonstop.”
According to Bell, he’s received interest from NFL clubs this year, but it has yet to dissuade him from his focus on boxing.
“During the season, I’ve been getting calls,” Bell said. “During the season so far, at the beginning of the season, asking me to come on [their] team, and I’ve just been declining, because I’ve been trying to take this boxing seriously.”
Hall enters Saturday as a substantial favorite. However, a prevailing reason Bell didn’t hesitate to take on the bout was his desire to prove just how serious he is about his new endeavor — and because of the opportunities that lie ahead should he emerge victorious.
“At that time, I don’t think anyone understood how serious I was taking this,” Bell said of when he accepted the Hall fight. “I’m dead-ass serious.”
Admittedly, Bell is still getting used to the boxing world. He’s trained at a variety of gyms and also trains at a home gym. And, in this universe, there is no Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh; he’s had to assemble his own team. On Saturday night, it will be Vince Ruiz (Mayweather Boxing and Fitness), David Alcidez (Cutman Boxing), Andrew Stafford (Staff Boxing) and James Wedderburn (Mayweather Boxing and Fitness) who are in his corner, rather than longtime assistants or teammates he’s known for seasons.
“It’s different,” Bell said. “The sport that I came from is football: The team is the team. You get drafted, you kinda got everything put in place. In boxing, you gotta find everybody. Who can you trust, [who can] you get a relationship with? I feel like my team has been great.”
Bell scored a fifth-round knockout in his exhibition against Peterson on Sept 10. He offers no flamboyant predictions for Saturday night, though, just extreme confidence.
“I’m not promising a knockout, but I’m also not saying I’m not going to knock him out either,” he said. “If he gets a little too aggressive, he overextends, he has his hands down, whatever it may be, a knockout will happen.”
Confident he’s the better boxer, Bell sees a feeling-out process early before, “[I] impose my will.”
Just how much success Bell can achieve in this new arena will be much clearer on Saturday night, but he has the greatest of hopes.
“I want to be champion and show people that, I made first-team All-Pro in the NFL and I changed over sports to be the best pro that I am,” he said, “at one point I was the best, I reached the highest peak and it’s boxing.”
For a time, Bell was considered to be among the best running backs in the NFL, if not the best.
It’s been 42 weeks since Bell last played a down of football. It’s been just seven since he KO’d Peterson.
Bell’s moving on with his sights set on being triumphant in another world of sport, whether you believe in him or not.
“I know I’m a big-time underdog, a lot of people are really not giving me a shot,” Bell said, “so I’m ready to get in the ring and prove people wrong.”