Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling has taken a trip to his old judo club . The International Judo ##vic shared photos of the match on Twitter . Before deciding on a career in boxing , Smalling was a talented martial artist and named world boxing champion as a teenager . He has experienced a meteoric rise from his days playing for non - league Maidstone United to try out for The Red Devils now .
Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling has taken a trip to his old judo club . The International Judo Federation shared photos of the visit on Twitter . Before deciding on a career in football , Smalling was a talented martial artist and named national judo champion as a teenager . He has experienced a meteoric rise from his days playing for non-league Maidstone United to turning out for The Red Devils now .