Poker Boxers Hansen and Jorgensen Go 'All In' in CopenhagenGus Hansen and Theo Jorgensen Square Off |
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Gus Hansen had beaten Theo Jorgensen again, this time in a competitive squash match. Hansen went into his classic shadow-boxing victory routine to celebrate. But this time Jorgensen had enough. The trash talking began, and before the two poker players realized what had happened, they had agreed to a boxing match with tens of thousands of dollars on the line.
That was last April. Now, nearly a year after the bet was established, Hansen and Jorgensen will square off on Feb. 21 in a live boxing match in one of Denmark’s biggest arenas, to be televised on Hansen’s brand-new (and free) online TV station, gushansentv.com.
The two professional poker players and wannabe boxers took time out of their training sessions to talk to CardPlayer.com about their chances.
“I’m both looking forward to it and, at the same time, I’m a little nervous,” said Jorgensen, who has been training for the bout for several months now. “I’m convinced I’m the favorite right now.”
Hansen said that he expects to win, but did seem a little stunned by Jorgensen’s lengthy training regimen.
“I didn’t realize that Theo was going to this so seriously,” said Hansen. “It’s forced me to get in a couple of training sessions.”
If Hansen wins, he’ll collect $25,000 from his friend, while Jorgensen will be $35,000 richer should he be victorious. That’s because Jorgensen was in much noticeably worse shape when the bet was first proposed.
“I will admit that he looks to be in pretty good shape,” said Hansen. “You can accomplish a lot with training, and that’s what Theo has done.”
Jorgensen has been training with Poul Duville — the man who trained Brian Nielsen, a boxer who fought but lost to Mike Tyson a few years ago.
But Hansen has countered by hiring professional boxing trainer Johnny De Lima, who has won an Olympic medal in the sport.
“I think we’re both very confident,” said Hansen. “He feels like his supposedly better technique is going to be able to control the match, and I feel like I can control the temp because I’m in better physical shape.”
While the pros might like to pretend like they’re tough guys, neither has ever been in a real fight, said Jorgensen.
“I’ve run twice from what seemed to be escalating into a fight,” said Jorgensen. “But that’s about the closest I’ve ever been to a fight.”
The fight will occur in KB Hallen, an arena that can hold 2,200 people, at 9 p.m. local time on Feb. 21. The match will be broadcast live, free of charge, on Gus TV.
While the boxing match will kick off Hansen’s new free online TV channel, he said that the channel will feature “a lot” of poker in the months ahead. The content will include his analysis from the play in some past televised poker tournaments, and he has already filmed some of his own online high-stakes sessions and plans on broadcasting them with his thoughts. He said he will also try to answer any and all questions on the channel via webcam.
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