What the heck is this all about, here on the day after Christmas? Anthony Munoz going around beating people up?

        Or at least getting ready to? Munoz, known here and there as the “Gentle Giant” and one of the easiest going guys in North America, has been in training lo these many weeks for a National Tough Man competition. As in boxing.

        Here's the deal: Fox Network has cooked up a pro football challenge that pits former AFC players against NFC counterparts — eight to 10 from each league, Munoz says, using 16-ounce gloves and going at it in three one-minute rounds. Last league standing is the NFL's toughest.

        Munoz is AFC team captain.

        “I don't know what I could have been thinking when I said yes. Others have asked before, but I always had something going and couldn't do it. This time, well, I agreed.

        “Right now, I'm in training two or three days a week, but, really, I've been in training all my life, so it's nothing new.

        “And I do feel pretty good about it. I'll probably feel a whole lot different when I get in the ring.

        “I just keep asking, "What got into me?' But, also, now that it's going, it's kind of an adrenaline rush. It also will be fun to see old friends.”

        Old friends like former Bengals Ickey Woods, of shuffle fame, Kevin Walker and Ross Browner. They're all in training to put on the gloves and have a go at some NFC-ers. At this point, no one knows yet who's fighting whom.

        The tough guys tape in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 5; the show will air the Friday before the Super Bowl — Jan. 26 — on FX.

        So we'll know who wins maybe as early as Jan. 6? “No, nobody's supposed to tell — find out that Friday when it airs.”

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