Robbie Keane Proved He Was Spurs’ Main Man With One Punch

Robbie Keane is not someone to mess with. 

In the 2003-04 season, he proved his worth to Tottenham Hotspur fans. With Spurs narrowly avoiding relegation that season, it was Keane’s 14 league goals that kept them up. 

He was the main man at Spurs in 2004. 

Not only was Keane respected but the Tottenham dressing room feared him.

While some players take up golf in their spare time, Keane preferred boxing. A hobby which reflected his aggression and fearlessness on the pitch.

Former Spurs manager Martin Jol was worried about this: "Keane was working out as a boxer so he was quite good... [which meant] we had a big problem."

In 2005, another abrasive character Edgar Davids joined Spurs.

Davids joined from Inter Milan after successful stints with Barcelona, Juventus and Ajax. When he joined Spurs, teammate Jamie O’Hara remembers Davids thinking “he was the guy and the main man.” 

This didn’t sit well with Keane. And it led to the pair often clashing in training as both battled for a starring role.

In other words, Spurs had a power struggle. 

During one training session, tensions boiled over after the Dutchman berated Keane. Though the pair hadn’t met eye-to-eye on many occasions, the other players knew this time was more serious. 

Following the initial war of words, Davids made the first move to confront Keane. 

But, before he knew it, Keane threw a monstrous punch. Davids dropped to the floor. 

That’s right, Champions League winner and former Barcelona man, Edgar Davids, hit the floor at the Chase Lodge training ground.

The Spurs players fell silent. Everyone in north London stood by for Davids’ response.

Davids proceeded to pick himself up and… walked off. 

O’Hara recalls when Davids, with his tail between his legs, “came in the next day to greet Keane, ‘morning, Robbie…’”

To everyone’s surprise, Davids had no response to Keane’s first and final blow.

The power struggle at Spurs was over and Keane continued as top-dog. 

Davids would only last two seasons at Tottenham before heading back to boyhood club Ajax. Perhaps the punch knocked the enthusiasm out of him.

The moral of the story: don’t mess with Robbie Keane. And, if you do, learn how to box first.