After admitting that he regrets the use of steroids during his career in baseball, Jose Canseco is again trying to get the attention of his fans. The fame that he enjoyed while he was active in the field. Right now, he wants to prove that he can still excel in sport, though not in baseball but in boxing. Canseco has already ventured into this sport aside from mixed martial arts when he was kicked out from the major league.

But what makes it interesting is the type of matches he is competing into. Reid Cherner and Tom Weir of USA Today reported that Jose Canseco is scheduled to fight on July 9 at Arkansas Travelers minor league game. What catches my attention is the title of the article, “Jose Canseco to fight 60-year-old.” Does it mean the former baseball slugger lost his skills and strength after years of steroid use? Or it may be the other way around. Maybe people are afraid to fight a steroid user and they only found a 60 year old willing to be beaten inside the ring.

Whatever reasons Canseco may have is beyond our comprehension. But one thing is clear in this match-up. It is a good publicity stunt. People will surely watch this event to see if Canseco still has the power and those people who hate him would definitely expect that he will be beaten by a 60-year old boxer. This event will definitely draw a huge crowd.

His opponent is not an ordinary guy from the sidelines. A retired baseball coach, Gary Hogan formerly worked with the University of Arkansas as assistant athletic director of Little Rock. He was also its head baseball coach. Hogan told a news agency that boxing is not new to him. He sparred at gyms for many years and even boxed with former heavyweight champ John Tate. “I’m coming out of retirement, because 60 is the new 30. This isn’t going to be Mayweather-Pacquiao or Ali-Foreman, it’s going to be two guys with 16-ounce gloves going out there just to see what happens,” Hogan said.

Hogan is confident about this match-up and shows no fear even if his opponent is a guy who used anabolic steroids to improve performance and strength. “I’ve never been one to conform to too much, because you only get to go around the block one time,” Hogan told MLB.com. “I plan on enjoying every inch of the block before I’m cremated,” he added. The match-up is set for 4 rounds of boxing.

Canseco will be turning 46 this month. In his previous interviews, his involvement in the use of steroids and being the source of information in the Mitchell report were the major setbacks in his life. The financial reward that he enjoys that time vanished. Now that he is trying to revive a career, Canseco will do everything to get back into the life that he enjoys. However, Cherner and Weir believes that this match up is a lose-lose situation for Canseco. “If he wins, it just means he beat up a 60-year-old guy. If he loses, he’s a laughingstock.”

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