When the news came out that former baseball slugger Jose Canseco will be fighting a 60-year old in a celebrity boxing match, many sports writers criticized him for taking the challenge. Gary Hogan, a retired baseball coach from the University of Arkansas and the assistant athletic director of Little Rock, fought Canseco in a 4 rounder boxing match. It was indeed a good promotional stunt for the organizers since they were able to get the attention of the public and the fans as well. The proceeds of the exhibition match will benefit Ray Rodgers’ boxing gym and the GED program in Little Rock.

The “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Rumble by the River” boxing match was held at the Dickey-Stephens Park before the Arkansas Travelers-Midland Rockhounds Double-A baseball game. Canseco lost to Hogan for a 39-37 score card. There were several comments against Canseco in many online discussions for losing against a 60-year old. Some said that it is time for Canseco to leave the world of sports and leave behind the fame that he had experienced before. The effects of his steroid use could be the reason why he was not able to at least dominate the fight.

It can be recalled that the first celebrity fight of Canseco against the former NFL player Vai Sikahema in 2008 was a knockdown. Sikahema knocked him out in 97 seconds. His second fight was a draw. Canseco was trying to rebuild his career in boxing and MMA but he finds it difficult to get good match ups and bigger events.

But for those people who watch the game, they believe that Canseco did not exert too much effort in winning the celebrity boxing match since it is only an exhibition game. According to Steve Cofield of Yahoo Sports, it looks like the snitch that sports fans love to hate showed a little heart. “Frankly, it didn’t look like Canseco, 46, was really trying,” he said.

However, it was different thing for Hogan. He believes that Canseco already lost his stamina and strength in the succeeding rounds. “He did [throw his heavy artillery at me],” Hogan said during the post fight interview by the media. “I took some shots but the bottom line is, I’m used to taking shots. I felt good in there. I wasn’t tired, my conditioning was unbelievable. I thought he got tired there in the third and fourth rounds,” Hogan added.

On the other hand, Canseco was not really aiming to win the fight. Anyway, he was paid for participating in that boxing event. “It’s an exhibition. I had a great time. I’ve gotta a lot of respect for Gary. Just coming out here and fighting a guy 15 years his junior, he’s got some [guts],” Canseco said in an interview.

One thing that Canseco should realize in competing in celebrity matches is it may not help his bid to get into the real world of boxing and mixed martial arts. He needs to fight in title matches to be able to improve his rankings. Right now, Canseco is aiming for a cage fight against Herschel Walker. But the Strikeforce seems not interested in including them in one of the major events in MMA.

Meanwhile, Ken Shamrock apologized to fans for blaming them why professional athletes like him are into steroids. The former Hall of Famer clarified his statement saying it is really up to the athletes if they take steroids or not. “I’m sorry if that’s the way it came off to point fingers at fans because that’s not what I was doing. I’m not saying that it’s not the athlete’s responsibility at all, no way. But what I’m saying is when something like that comes out and then you have people going, ‘oh my God, I can’t believe he was doing that!’ … that to me is wrong because to me most likely — and I’m not saying in all cases — but most likely people know what’s going on,” he told Zach Arnold of The Fight Nerd.

He also denied that he was in favor of legalizing anabolic steroids. He was quoted in previous interview that he believes steroids should be made legal. “No, that was taken out of context. I do not, absolutely do not believe that steroids should be legal,” Shamrock said. “My intention on that whole conversation was I thought that steroids should be controlled,” he added.

Shamrock, who already served his suspension due to a positive test for anabolic steroid, is scheduled to fight against Pedro Rizzo at Impact FC card in Sydney, Australia on July 17.

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