Chris Rock's Brother Kenny Rock Signs With Celebrity Boxing, Challenges Will Smith to Fight

Chris Rock's brother Kenny Rock has just signed a deal with Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman for a fight that will take place in Florida this summer – and there's one opponent that he's calling out first and foremost: Will Smith. Feldman and Kenny Rock spoke to TMZ in NYC's Times Square to formally announced K. Rock's upcoming fight, and Rock says he's "most definitely" excited for the bout, before moving on to Will Smith as a potential opponent. See the full quote below. 

"Any and everybody," Kenny Rock initially tells reporters when asked who he might like to fight, adding, "anybody willing to step up and take on the challenge." He also said he's going to "keep that between myself," when it came to the question about his nervousness – but he was not at all nervous when the topic of Will Smith was brought up! 

When a reporter asked if Kenny thought Chris Rock and Will Smith should do Celebrity Boxing together, the younger Rock brother said in no uncertain terms "No they shouldn't. But I should get in the ring with Will Smith." 

Naturally, reporters were a little taken back at the frankness of the reply –  but they also dumped fuel on the fire when Rock was outright asked if he could "take" Smith in the fight: "Yes, no offense to us about it," Rock responded. "I'll let the hands do the talking." 

If it is still somehow a mystery to anyone on the planet: during the 2022 Oscars ceremony, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage in front of Hollywood and the watching world, due to a joke Rock made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. That act rocked the globe and sparked intense social debate; as part of the fallout, Will Smith has made apologies both public and private and resigned from his position in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, while The Academy in turn banned Smith from the Oscars for the next decade

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Chris's family has been very vocal, with his comedian brother Tony Rock being one of the first to speak out against Will Smith publicly, following the slap; Kenny acknowledges his brother Tony is even more fired up than he is, referring to himself as a "Quiet Storm." 

Kenny Rock also backed up Chris' current stance of not addressing the Oscars slap unless he's getting paid to do it. He also could not offer any confirmation on Chris's current status with Will Smith, or if there has been any reconciliation between the two stars. As one of the most famous stand-up comedians in the world, Chris Rock is arguably playing it very shrewdly to take a moment of arguably humiliation and violation and turn it into one of his biggest paydays ever. Ticket sales for Chris Rock's shows have skyrocketed since the Oscars

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