Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the biggest stars in soccer and one of the most famous athletes in the world. The Portuguese is also known to be a fan of other sports in the past, with a special love for combat sports such as boxing, MMA, and the UFC.
Ronaldo often links up with many personalities from those sports, such as when he faced off against Conor McGregor and met with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tyson Fury, and others. However, he missed one high-profile boxing event in Saudi Arabia, even after being invited.
Why did Cristiano Ronaldo not attend Ngannou vs Joshua?
Cristiano Ronaldo is often seen at fight events, but he was absent during the most recent hyped fight night. This Friday saw the blockbuster heavyweight boxing fight between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua in the Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Many celebrities graced the event outside the ring, with soccer personalities like Jose Mourinho, Francesco Totti, and Brazilian legend Ronaldo in attendance. However, Ronaldo did not come to watch, even though he was specially invited to the event. There was a front-row seat to the fight, with his initials ‘CR7’ on an empty seat.
A seat was reserved for the Al Nassr superstar next to Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh, who has gained fame in recent days. The absence was most surprising as Ronaldo is a big fan of events like this, having attended various others since his move to the country. He was even living in the same city, so that added more confusion.
However, the special reason was that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had a training session with Al Nassr the next morning after the fight. The fight was also very late at 3:30 AM local time. Ronaldo is known to prioritize his career first and put more importance into training than his enjoyment.
Ronaldo has already shown a desire to make a comeback in the next AFC Champions League game against Al Ain, and therefore trained hard for the match, showing his professionalism. While he missed the fight, he had met with both of them days before the fight along with Tyson Fury and Turki Alalshikh.
Does Cristiano Ronaldo appear in boxing events?
Cristiano Ronaldo is a huge fan of boxing, and regularly appears in boxing events, especially since he left Europe. He was last seen in the ‘Day of Reckoning’ fight event, headlined by Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin, where he sat with Conor McGregor. Before that, he was in attendance for the highly hyped Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou boxing match as well.
Ronaldo once confirmed he often loves to watch combat sports instead of soccer, stating, “Playing football is my passion, but I prefer watching other sports on TV. Between watching a football match or a boxing or UFC fight, I choose boxing or UFC.”
Cristiano Ronaldo: "Playing football is my passion, but I prefer watching other sports on TV.
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) December 15, 2020
"Between watching a football match or a boxing or UFC fight, I choose boxing or UFC." pic.twitter.com/bovgbgpPrM
During his days in Europe, Ronaldo preferred not to spend time outside of soccer training to attend other events. However, with more free time now, he has shown that he will still stay professional.
Cristiano Ronaldo has proven that he prioritizes playing soccer now, and he will do just that as his side Al Nassr takes on Al Ain in the second leg of their AFC Champions League fixture.
