Ray Lewis says he’d beat his teammate Tom Zbikowski in the boxing ring

With the NFL in labor lockdown, Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski has shown some stones by entering the world of professional boxing and winning two fights with relative ease. His teammate Ray Lewis isn't impressed. The veteran NFL linebacker was asked how he would fare against Zbikowski in a boxing match.

"Zbikowski would lose," Lewis said as a guest on NFL Network. "We've already talked about that. Zbikowski is a realist when it comes to the sport. The locker room talk is always that about who can beat who. He'll be the first to tell you he's not going to get in the ring with a 250-pound person. That's crazy!"

That's big talk from a guy who'd be facing a 25-year-old with a lengthy amateur boxing background. And it sounds like Zbikowski missed out on that talk. Tommy Z told Dan Patrick last month that he'd beat anyone in the NFL (5:00 mark), including his teammate Lewis.

"I'd be nervous [facing the 250-pound Ray Lewis]," Zbikowski said. "But there's a lot more than having power and being a scary fella. I signed up for this. There's not gonna be much that's gonna scare me."

The 195-pound Zbikowski is confident in his skills and knowledge of the sweet science. He said if he sticks with boxing full-time, he could be a cruiserweight world champion in two years. He also said that he could teach an athlete like his teammate Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (6-foot-4, 350) the skills necessary to be a heavyweight champion in a year (2:25 mark).

Zbikowski is reaching on both counts in saying he and his teammate would win world titles in less than two years, but he's probably correct about his ability to tear up Lewis even giving away 50-plus pounds.

Assuming Lewis would be willing to go through the customary eight-week training camp to get in shape, there's still no way he'd survive against a guy with 90 amateur fights, who was a legitimate contender to compete for a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team. It's pretty easy for Lewis to talk tough when he knows he'll never actually step into the ring.

Zbikowski's next fight is scheduled in less than two weeks against Blake Warner in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Tip via Pro Football Talk

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