Vontaze Burfict has responded to Le’Veon Bell’s pitch for the two former NFL stars to settle their past beef inside the squared circle.
Rather than settle their differences in a boxing match, Burfict would rather handle things a bit more casually — a round of 18 on the golf course.
“@leveonbell Why we lookin’ to fight? Why not show everyone WE can change the narrative. Let’s show the world WE can squash beef in other ways than boxing,” Burfict posted on Instagram Monday. “Let’s meet and compete on the golf course. Get some charities involved so WE can help people in need and show kids that we resolved our differences to make the world a better place.”
Bell promptly accepted on Twitter:
“lol sure bro,” Bell wrote.
Bell, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star running back, has taken up boxing over the past year. This past September, he knocked out former star tailback Adrian Peterson in an exhibition boxing match. He aimed to do the same thing to Burfict, looking to settle some scores dating back to 2015.
Burfict, then a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals, tackled Bell during a game that November — a tackle in which resulted in Bell suffering a season-ending knee injury. Speaking recently on the “Misfits Boxing” podcast, alluded to Burfict as the man he wanted to be his next opponent inside the ring.
Le’Veon Bell calls out Vontaze Burfict
“There is, there is, it’s just this person is not a boxer,” Bell said, via USA TODAY. “It’s someone from football. They had purposely injured me. I don’t think I want to say the name, but people who watched my career when I hurt my knee, people know. Yeah, people know. Yeah, but like, I would love to put my hands on him like in the ring… It’s hard to kind of like I guess find that fine line… I use all my aggression and all my like I guess personal issues inside the ring.”
Months after the season-ending knee injury, Bell accused Burfict and the Bengals of purposely attempting to twist his ankles.
“I don’t think it was just [Burfict]; it was like the whole team was really out there trying to like twist my ankles and do little dirty stuff in between the piles,” Bell said. “… I feel like there’s a lot of teams that do that, try to take me out of the game.”
