British boxer Richard Riakporhe has confronted reports he is enjoying a romance with Madonna
The 34-year-old athlete has been linked to the 65-year-old queen of pop after a photo of her straddling him went viral.
But Richard has insisted that he is not dating the music legend and that the nature of their relationship is strictly platonic.
He told The Sun, “She’s just a friend, just a friend. I’m a gym rat so I don’t really have time to see a lot of my friends.”
The boxer added: “She’s a great person, I know her quite well. Her whole life has pretty much been in the public eye. She’s good company. Madonna is Madonna!”
Addressing the photo of them looking close together that sparked the romance rumours, Richard said: “It was just a party. That picture happened a while ago?.?.?.? She’s told me she wants to come to the fight. We’ll see if she can turn up.”
He added, “It all depends on a few other variables. That would be great to have her down.”
Madonna is back on the market after breaking up with sportsman Josh Popper, 30, last month.
A source said in May, “There is genuinely no bad blood – they’re still fond of each other. At the moment their relationship doesn’t feel feasible and they’ve cooled things off, but they are staying friends.”
