'I watched Kolo Toure fight Arsenal star - now I'll be battling ex-Chelsea ace'

EXCLUSIVE: Kolo Toure is a cool, calm and collected member of Pep Guardiola's coaching team, but the Manchester City coach was not to be trifled with in his playing days

When he is at Pep Guardiola's side, Kolo Toure is a composed member of the Manchester City coaching team.

In his playing days, opposition forwards feared him at Arsenal and the Cityzens. He never took any prisoners and his immense desire to win meant he was willing to throw himself through brick walls to achieve success. The one weakness of a players who competes on the edge is they can often go over it.

While he was playing under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, this happened in a training session which saw Toure explode into a fit of rage at a team-mate, resulting in an iconic training ground fight. On this occasion, the central defender had met his match, as he was up against the equally fiery and strong Pascal Cygan.

The unstoppable force and the immovable object locked horns and brawled in front of shocked team-mates. Few people in the country had a better view of the battle than former Gunner and ex-Blackburn Rovers ace David Bentley, who wisely chose to keep his distance rather than jump in the middle of the defensive colossuses.

Nearly 20 years later, Bentley is the one who will be fighting. Instead of a training ground football pitch, the setting will be the prestigious Grosvenor Hotel in Mayfair, London on October 18.

In the blue corner will be ex-Chelsea star and assistant manager Jody Morris, who will be looking to do a number on the former winger when they collide on a charity boxing card organised by Pro Project Promotions, which is headed by former Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack. Bentley has been training with former world championship boxing challenger Kevin Mitchell.

If their brawl is anything close to what happened between Cygan and the City coach, Bentley could find himself in the eye of a Blue storm. Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, Bentley said: "I remember the training sessions were tough at Arsenal. That was the Invincible mentality. They were tough, they were strong men. There's Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira and others.

"It was tough in training. You'd get stamped on, kicked, elbowed, but that was all development, that's what created the Invincible team. It wasn’t just talent. I got black eyes, I got my shirt ripped off and so on.

"But with Pascal Cygan, absolute beast, and then, obviously, Kolo Toure. They've had a row. I think they were on the same team and it was about conceding goals. I think they were probably 3-0 down in training and they started blaming each other.

"All of a sudden, honestly, it was like trying to break up Mike Tyson, two big guys going for it. You could see the strength of both of them.

"I was on the outside. I was like Cole Palmer. I was like, 'Let them go at it. Let them sort it out.' I think they got separated. But that was a strong environment. Proper men. Old school. Every day was tough. You'd come off with a few scrapes.”

Bentley has also said in the past it took 15 players to stop Toure and Cygan from trying to rip each other's head off. It did not stop the Arsenal pair from winning trophies as they won a Premier League and two FA Cup trophies while starring in the same team in north London.

Now Toure is trying to replicate his success as a coach at City. Initially, he was only brought in for the Club World Cup but his move to the blue side of Manchester was made permanent in July.

To watch David Bentley fight Jody Morris and other fights involving previous Premier League heroes, secure your tickets at www.proprojectpromotions.com and join us for a night of drama, glamour, and giving back.