- Madonna’s picture with Nigerian boxer Riakprohe sparks romance rumours
Songstress Madonna, 65, has sent rumour mills into overdrive about her love-life after “growing close” to a British-Nigerian boxer, Richard Riakprohe, who at 34, is 31 years her junior.
The multiple Grammy Award winner entangled the undefeated Cruiserweight fighter in her vast and expanding romantic web just days after she ended her year-long romance with 30-year-old Josh Popper.
The couple had not seen each other for months due to Madonna’s touring commitments, leading them to mutually decide to part ways. The split was amicable, with no infidelity or drama involved, and they remain friends, according to Marca.
Madonna showed off her new man in an Instagram post of her straddling Riakporhe with the caption, ‘I had to sit somewhere.’
According to The Sun, Madonna, 65, became close to Riakporhe after her breakup with Popper, whom she met while modeling for Burberry. A source shared with The Sun, “Richard met Madonna through the fashion world. They have friends in common, get on very well, and have a lot of fun in each other’s company. But at the moment, they are just good friends.”
The friendship between the boxer known as ‘The Midnight Train’ and Madonna isn’t new. There are indications of their camaraderie, such as the Instagram post where the ‘Queen of Pop’ sat on Riakporhe’s lap.
He is thought to have remained by her side while the mum-of-six was in ICU battling her serious bacterial infection last year. The sportsman also joined her in Portugal for her birthday last August, later joining her on stage in Brooklyn back in December.
Riakporhe is hopeful that Madonna will support him in his upcoming fight on June 15, where he aims to claim the WBO cruiserweight world championship from Chris Billam-Smith at Selhurst Park.
“Madonna says she’ll come if she’s in London and will keep me informed. She wants to come to the fight,” Riakporhe told talkSPORT.
A supporter of Crystal Palace FC, Riakporhe, whose parents are Nigerian, is 6ft 5in and has won all 17 of his fights—13 of them by knockout. He grew up on the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth, London, and had a late start to boxing, first stepping into a gym, the Lynn ABC, at the age of 19.
Alongside boxing as an amateur, he continued in pursuit of further education, studying at college and eventually moving on to Kingston University in south-west London, earning a degree in marketing communications and advertising in 2015.
Riakprohe has other interests aside from boxing. Drawing from his experiences of a troubled upbringing, Riakporhe set up a company, the Richard Riakporhe Foundation, which focuses on talking to schoolchildren about positive thinking and the dangers of knife crime.
Popularly called the Queen of Pop, Madonna has been married twice—first to Sean Penn from 1985 to 1989, then to Guy Ritchie from 2000 to 2008. She has also had a slew of relationships and flings with several other Hollywood stars, including Tupac, Dennis Rodman, and Warren Beatty, among others.
