(WSVN) - Frank Gore has overcome the odds — two torn ACLs while playing at the U and a fractured hip playing for the 49ers in 2010. Gore has never quit. Now he faces a new challenge, where he trains, there’s a Rocky poster.
As a future NFL Hall of Fame running back, Gore took his fair share of hits on the field for 16 seasons.
Now, he plans to deliver some shots of his own in the ring.
“I started enjoying it,” Gore said. “I started enjoying sparring, but you know, it’s a process, man and I’m up for it.”
Gore is training for his first professional boxing match. It could happen as early as December.
Gore, who said he’s a young 38, is the third all-time NFL rushing to 16,000 yards. He’s already turned down some offers to play another season.
“I passed up three teams so far,” he said. “I just felt like it wasn’t the right situation for me. I know I still can play the game. If you watched me last year, you know, even though the situation was tough, I still have success. You can’t tell my age.”
Gore has used boxing as off-season workouts since he was drafted in 2005.
Pete Bommarito has trained Gore since his first NFL season. He encouraged him to use the sweet science as a way to condition his mind and body.
“You gotta get a lot of hand-eye coordination, hand speed, a lot of chunk rotation, a lot of leverage, bending and just overall footwork,” he said. “Frank is the blueprint for how people need to train and take care of themselves.
Gore trains two hours a day, six days a week.
“I like challenges,” he said. “Man, when I first started, it was hard. I felt like I couldn’t even fight. First day I was like, ‘Man, ima keep doing it. Just kept coming, kept coming. I saw myself get better and better.”
In Gore’s corner is Javiel Centeno.
“Frank’s the type of guy that gets hit and keeps coming,” Centeno said. “It’s like he feeds off that. Now, we’re working on not getting hit, because he’s gonna get hit by guys, you know, 200 plus pounds, so we wanna make sure he’s not getting hit.”
“Football, you can hide behind 10 other guys,” Gore said. “Boxing, it’s only you. That’s why my coach been trying to prepare me for that. I can’t hide behind a lineup no more, it’s just me and the guy in front of me.”
Gore said he’s not listening to any of the naysayers who say he’s too old to start a boxing career at his age.
He doesn’t want his first fight to be an exhibition against a YouTuber or a TikToker. He wants to face a boxer with professional experience in the ring.
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