Will Herschel Fight for Strikeforce Again?, What He Did Earnings

Reported By marcm0484
1/31/2010

Source: MMANews.com

- Herschel Walker dominated in his third-round TKO victory over Greg Nagy at Strikeforce: Miami, but that doesn't mean he will get a second fight.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that even with his win he wasn't sure if the NFL great would return.

"I keep pinching myself thinking, 'That's Herschel Walker in the Strikeforce cage, right?' It's like it wasn't real."

The decision to put the older, inexperienced Walker on a major card, while at the same time bumping the fight between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs to the undercard, earned a lot of criticism for Coker, and many people called the decision a gimmick or a joke.

Coker was covering his bases though, and told Walker from day 1 that he would only allow the fight and offer a contract if Walker went through a legit training camp.

"That was part of the deal. I said, 'Herschel, if you really want to do this, you need to move to San Jose. You've got to put your life on hold for the nine weeks.' ... And he did it. He did everything that was asked of him, and I think you saw that it paid off."

Walker trained with American Kickboxing Academy for the fight, in addition to making several media appearances and turning the event into a mainstream media occasion. However, Coker and Walker have yet to talk a return.

"No, not yet. We didn't look that far ahead. We just said, 'Let's go through the first fight and take it from there.'"

When asked whether he would approve a second bout, Coker's answer was very telling.

"Sure, why not?"

Walker earned a six-figure payday for his appearance, but did not keep it.

"The thing I really want people to know is that Herschel donated his entire purse to charity. He's fighting for a nonprofit organization, and he really came through for them."

The charity was Project Turnaround, a faith-based charity that works to improve the lives of urban youths and families.

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