Piers Morgan has made it obvious that he is not pleased by Louis Theroux’s belief that he could beat him in a boxing battle.
The presenter met two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who represented Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics, on the debut edition of the second season of Louis’ Interviews series.
He became professional two years after winning gold.
However, in the opening few minutes of the broadcast, Anthony, 34, and Louis, 53, discussed the prospect of the host entering the ring himself one day.
‘I could get you into a fight and it would do well,’ he told Louis, who seemed pretty shocked by the statement at first.
‘Oh yea. Because you would bring viewers to my broadcasting platform,’ he continued.
Louis, clearly eager to learn more before making a decision, then asked the fighter who he would face.
‘Umm…maybe someone like a Kugan Cassius,’ he suggested.
‘Wait the boxing journalist? I thought you were going to say someone like Phillip Schofield,’ Louis remarked.
Not wanting to miss out on the fun, his producers could then be heard in the background throwing out their ideas, with one suggesting Piers Morgan.
‘That’s a perfect match-up,’ Louis said.
‘Number one. He’s very famous…and I think I could take him.’
Speaking about the challenge at a Q&A about the show last month, Louis at first appeared to back down, quipping: ‘He’s quite big though, isn’t he?’
When asked what he would do if Piers, 58, accepted an offer to fight him, Louis replied it would be’stressful,’ but he would commit.
‘The stressful part is he might even do it. If I take that seriously, if it was three rounds, no, I don’t want to have an actual fight with Piers Morgan. But I will do it if I have to. And that’s a promise,’ he said.
Piers has heard the news, and he’s not afraid to express his thoughts on how he believes he’d fare in the ring.
‘Have you lost your marbles Louis Theroux?’ he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
‘I’d destroy you in 30 seconds, you puny wastrel.’
While Louis’ wide-ranging conversation with Anthony was full of eye-opening and occasionally amusing moments, the duo almost got into a fight after Louis questioned the boxer about an outburst following a loss last year.
AJ tossed the heavyweight belts out of the ring after losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia last year before going on a rampage on the microphone.
When Louis brought up this event, AJ didn’t appear to enjoy where the line of inquiry went, and when Louis jumped in and said what he’d done was ‘probably bad,’ Anthony was not thrilled.
Looking noticeably annoyed, he clapped back and responded: ‘You asked me a question and I’m answering it.’
Louis will chat with actor and producer Ashley Walters, whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning, Hollywood legend Dame Joan Collins, artist and musician Pete Doherty, and singer-songwriter Raye in subsequent episodes of Interviews.
Louis Theroux Interviews… continues on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Two.
