Paddy Doherty says he would love to fight Mark Wright in a celebrity boxing match. He also says he could knock him out in the first round. The 67-year-old former bareknuckle boxer has turned a brief BAFTAs encounter into a public challenge.
Mark Wright and Calum Best
Doherty said, "I would love to fight Calum Best. And I’d love to fight the fella out of Essex, he’s really cocky and arrogant. I would love to fight Mark Wright, he’s a cocky arrogant, above himself, I’d love me and him in the ring."
He added, "I’m a lot older than him but I guarantee I’d knock him out in the first round." That line gives the challenge its edge: Doherty is not selling a distant grudge, he is pitching a fight with a clear finish and a clear target.
BAFTAs in 2011
Doherty said he met Wright at the BAFTAs in 2011, and that Wright was not rude to him. "I met him at the awards, at the BAFTAs. He wasn’t rude to me I wouldn’t let him be, not in a million years, but he had that look, like look at me. You get it on, I’ll do it!" he said.
That mix is what makes the story more than routine celebrity noise. Doherty is calling Wright cocky and arrogant while also saying the meeting itself was not hostile, which leaves the challenge sounding personal without turning it into a settled feud.
Hard Knocks & Soft Spots
The 67-year-old is also trying to keep his name moving on another front: he said his 2012 autobiography Hard Knocks & Soft Spots is being turned into a film, and that an actor has already been cast to play him. For a TV personality who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, that keeps him in the frame even before any ring talk turns real.
The fight itself remains only a challenge on paper, but Doherty has drawn a neat line: if Mark Wright wants it, he has already said what round he expects to end it in.
