In September 2017, former footballer Rio Ferdinand announced that he was pursing a new endeavor: boxing.

Ferdinand is sponsored by betting company Betfair, who have also assisted him with qualifying for a boxing license, as well as his training.

He stated: "I've won titles, now I'm aiming for a belt."

With the new year ushered in, Ferdinand has stepped up his training, evident in his latest video on Instagram, detailing his schedule with his trainer Richie Woodhall.

As of late, he has handled training with a sense of urgency, wanting to have his first fight as soon as February. 

The former Manchester United defender has served as a pundit for BT Sport since retiring in 2015.

That same year, he lost his wife Rebecca Ellison to breast cancer. Shortly after announcing his move to boxing, his memoir Thinking Out Loud was published in October.

The memoir details Ferdinand dealing with his wife's illness and subsequent death, which was another motivation for him to pursue boxing. The 39-year-old is looking to make an impact, and his trainer is confident in his efforts.

You can watch Ferdinand's latest training video below.

Looking pretty sharp in training, Rio. Now to get into that ring.

In his video, Ferdinand is seen doing some rather difficult and fast paced training, but certainly seemed keen to the task at hand.

At one point he was punching a speed ball, which he described as the hardest thing he's worked on, due to the target constantly moving every time it gets hit.

Ferdinand's trainer Richie Woodhall is a former WBC super middleweight champion.

He guides Ferdinand with practices that focus on accuracy and timing, and looks to mold him into a huge physical threat by the time of his anticipated debut. 

Ferdinand will hopefully have his first professional fight sometime in 2018.