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Awkward moment Anthony Joshua silences Louis Theroux as he touches nerve during interview

Awkward moment Anthony Joshua silences Louis Theroux as he touches nerve during interview

Anthony Joshua was interviewed by Louis Theroux for a new BBC series airing tonight

Louis Theroux ended up in a pretty tense exchange with former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua after he clearly touched a nerve with his interviewing style.

Check it out for yourself:

Joshua, who has been the heavyweight champion of the world on two occasions, is obviously one of the biggest hitters in the world of boxing, both in terms of his punch and his star power.

While he doesn’t hold the belts at the moment having been beaten twice recently by Oleksandr Usyk, he’s still a formidable opponent for anyone out there.

That includes - you’d have to admit - any relatively scrawny TV interviewers out there.

Who knows, perhaps Louis Theroux is secretly double hard, but even then he’s giving up a lot of weight and reach to Joshua, so you’d have to imagine it would be a fairly one-sided fight.

Anthony Joshua is not a man you'd want to p*** off.
BBC

Anyway, the pair met for an episode of BBC's Louis Theroux Interviews which will air this evening (7 November), and Theroux - in typical fashion - didn’t pull any punches with regards to asking the big questions.

Still, it wasn’t a question that made Joshua bristle, it seemed to be Theroux’s interview technique.

The 53-year-old journalist seemed to get on Joshua’s nerves during one tense exchange in which Joshua clearly thought he was being unnecessarily interrupted.

Talking about an incident after one of his losses to Usyk, when Joshua chucked the heavyweight belts out of the ring and then grabbed the microphone to have a rant, Joshua said: "That was an ego and pride thing coming out. I brought this heavyweight division back - that was in me. Right or wrong, probably wrong."

Clearly not believing that answer to be sufficient, Theroux persisted: "Probably wrong, probably wrong I think.

“I don’t think anyone says it was the right thing to do.”

Theroux clearly touched a nerve with the former champ.
BBC

Then, a picture of annoyance, Joshua hit back: "You asked me a question and I’m answering it."

Clearly, Joshua isn’t up for discussing that episode in his career.

Theroux was though, and he continued: "You took the belts and dropped them over the side."

Joshua then elaborated: "It was like that these don’t even mean anything anyway. I’ve thrown them because that’s what I’ve felt like and grabbed the mic, I addressed the crowd.

“Could I have done it better? Of course I could have.

“I felt frustrated, annoyed.

“I knew I was out of the title race and then the questions started, 'What is he like? Where is his head at?'"

Louis Theroux Interviews will air this evening (7 November).
BBC

Joshua went on: "All this 'can he be three-time champion of the world?'

“People create this narrative and put pressure on me. It’s too much.

“Gone are the days it was for the fun, when you’re just doing it for the passion, you’re a prospect."

After wrapping the documentary, Theroux described AJ as someone who - once you get past the ‘self-help inklings’ - you can see is ‘emotionally naked’ underneath.

Theroux said: "I think there is a lot of vulnerability and a certain amount of pain. It just revolves around dialling that back and scraping away to find the more human qualities.

"I was conscious of wanting to bring my A game.

“The boxing world is a bit of a village and like a lot of villages, they are slightly suspicious about outsiders."

Louis Theroux Interviews airs on BBC Two at 9:00pm tonight.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Anthony Joshua, BBC, Boxing, Louis Theroux, Sport, TV and Film, UK News, Celebrity