No.6: Idris Elba
Idris Elba rose to prominence as one of the stars of the iconic TV show ‘The Wire’ and has since become an in-demand leading man on both TV and the bigscreen, but at heart he still had an unfulfilled desire to be a fighter.
So much so that in 2016 the 44-year-old Elba put his Hollywood career on hold to pursue his dream of having a professional kickboxing bout.
The 6ft 3″, 200lb Elba would go on to train for 12-months to prepare for his fight, building on a recreational kickboxing base from back in his 20’s by training at various gyms across the globe alongside the likes of ex-boxing champion Francois Botha, K-1 legend Masato and Tyrone Spong, while a film crew recorded his every move for an eventual three-part documentary series.
Despite his reputation being on the line, Elba didn’t have an easy opponent for his pro-debut, going up against the far more experienced Lionel Graves from the respected Mike’s Gym out of Holland, but he proved his toughness by withstanding some early punishment and then earning a TKO victory in the second round courtesy of a knee strike.
