Idris Elba is an award-winning actor, DJ, and one of the sexiest men in the world. Now, he’s a fighter with a win under his belt.
Back in August, Elba announced he was training to be a professional kickboxer–no, not for a movie role, but for real. The British actor told the folks at the Edinburgh Television Festival he was undergoing the rigorous task for a new reality series, Idris Elba: Fighter.
After months the training, it looks like it paid off.
The 44-year-old star made his debut during a fight at York Hall in Bethnal Green, London–and he won. A snippet of the bout was caught on camera by Elba’s friend, Madonna (and no, they’re not dating…Idris cleared that up on Twitter).
Elba has been training with British boxing legend Nigel Benn, but it hasn’t been easy.
“I’ve busted my nose a couple of times but hopefully it doesn’t show. Keeping fit is important to me as part of my work and I always used to train back in the day as just a kickboxer before I was acting and now I am on this massive journey,” he said.
While many of Elba’s female fans might be worried about the actor’s famous face, he’s not concerned.
“It is not fake,” he said. “I might get hurt but ultimately I have trained for it and I like to fight.
