Tommy Fury and Liam Payne sent the internet into a frenzy when they appeared to hint that they would be going head-to-head in the boxing ring. On Wednesday (April 12), Manchester boxer and former Love Island star Tommy and former One Direction singer Liam both shared a nose-to-nose promo picture of themselves in what fans thought could be a fight poster.
The two names topped the poster, although without a ‘vs’, and the venue was given as Old Trafford, Manchester. "This summer. Announcement tomorrow," it said. The Instagram posts from both Tommy, 23, and Liam, 29, came without any comment and the eyes emoji was simply used in the caption.
Both posts quickly racked up thousands of comments as confused fans asked 'what is this?' and wondered if Liam was ditching music for a boxing career. While others feared they were about to make an 'absolute mockery of boxing'. But fans need not worry as the truth was finally revealed less than 24 hours later on Thursday (April 13).
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Both Liam and Tommy will be lacing up their football boots this summer as they join the Soccer Aid line-up which takes place at Manchester United's home, Old Trafford, in June.
Liam will join the Engfland side which also includes former Lioness Jill Scott as captain, Paddy McGuinness, Jermain Defoe, Karen Carney, Gary Cahill, Jack Wilshere, Sir Mo Farah, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Chunkz, David James, Scarlette Douglas and Nicky Butt. Emma Hayes and Vicky McClure will co-manage the team while DJ Joel Corry, rapper Bugzy Malone, singer Tom Grennan, Olympian Sir Mo Farah, comedian Alex Brooker, and commentator Eni Aluk also join the England line-up.
Tommy, meanwhile, has signed up for the Soccer Aid World XI team which includes Olympic legend Usain Bolt as captain alongside Lee Mack, Steven Bartlett, Kem Cetinay, Mo Gilligan and Maisie Adam.
And fans have been quick to react to the real announcement. @_siennaleenewman_1 said: "Omd i thought it was a fight i had a heart attack love them both good luck boys." @icarus.unofficial wrote: "And we though you were gonna box." @sophiemander_ replied: "Makes sense now." @yazvball commented: "Screaming crying throwing up because i fully thought they were gonna fight." @yashika__bhatnagar added: "OMG I'M SOO RELIEVED."
Speaking to the PA news agency, Tommy said of being on the pitch with Usain: "I used to watch Usain in all the Olympics and to be playing alongside him on a football pitch will be absolutely incredible. I think for the first 10 or 15 seconds I’ll be a little bit starstruck until he tells me to get in position. But I’ll try and do him proud."
And the location of the charity match is makes the occasion even more special for the new dad as he grew up as a fan of the football club. "My granddad is mad obsessed with football and ever since I was a kid he always used to take me to United games. He always used to watch United so I grew up around them," he added to the publication.
Soccer Aid, which was co-founded by pop star Robbie Williams in 2006, raises money for humanitarian aid organisation Unicef to help children in need around the world. The charity match is back at Manchester United’s Old Trafford on June 11 and will be broadcast on ITV1, STV and ITVX.
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