Though more and more celebrities hope to prove their mettle in the ring, perhaps none were as focused as comedy legend and creator of The Office, Ricky Gervais.
Ricky Gervais became a household name for his acting, his comedy, and his writing, creating the hit sitcom – The Office.
One thing he was not known for, especially in his early forties when he signed up for the charity bout, was boxing. Despite this, Gervais took on the challenge, and even trained under the supervision of an experienced boxing promoter, who said of Gervais:
“He’s a little bit smaller than Mike Tyson. probably as heavy as Mike Tyson. I don’t think he can fight as well as Mike Tyson.”
Lennox Lewis’ manager puts Ricky Gervais through his paces
The former promoter of Lennox Lewis, who famously brawled with Tyson ahead of their heavyweight clash, Frank, now Kellie, Maloney took the role of Gervais’ trainer for the bout, which would see the comedy legend face Grant Bovey, a British businessman and TV personality.
Gervais is seen clearly anxious about training, and says ahead of his first sparring session:
“Let’s start with [the sparring partner’s] hands behind his back then.”
To which Maloney replied: “No he’s gonna start hitting you.”
After an unsuccessful spar, Maloney had strong words for Gervais:
“If you’re gonna do it, do it proper or not at all. […] You’re gonna hit him or he’s gonna hit you, and if he doesn’t hit you, he’ll go out and I’ll get someone who will.”
Gervais even sparred fellow comic, Bob Mortimer, in the build-up to the event.
Gervais’ weeks of training proved successful in the end, however, when he went on to defeat Bovey in a closely contested fight at York Hall in 2002. Gervais referred to himself as ‘Ricky Balboa’.
Ricky Gervais reminisces boxing days with Tony Bellew
In a podcast with Tony Bellew, who admits a referee saved his life against Oleksandr Usyk, Gervais looked back on his boxing days:
“I don’t do Strictly Come Dancing or Great British Bake Off or panel shows so what one does he choose when he’s forty years old and fat and never fought before, Oh I know, boxing.”
Gervais says he’s stuck with the boxing a bit since all those years ago, and believes he could beat his former self even despite being around 60 at the time of the interview:
“Twenty years later, I could beat my forty-year-old self up in about two minutes, I would smash me to death. I’m so much better now and I’ve sort of kept it up.”
He concluded: “It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
It seems back then Gervais was the start of something big, as celebrities are now everywhere in boxing, with the likes of YouTube and crossover boxing becoming a huge market, led by KSI and Jake Paul.
Crossover boxing reached a new peak in terms of views when Paul fought Mike Tyson in Netflix’s first foray into boxing, though Tyson revealed he has still not recovered from facing Paul.