The only fighting that Micah Richards is doing nowadays is in trying to wrestle Aston Villa out of their relegation battle.
But once upon a time he was involved in a very heated and much publicised confrontation with everyone’s famous controversial footballer, Mario Balotelli.
Both were playing for Manchester City at the time when, at one training session, the pair had to be held back from attacking one another.
Richards is a guest on this week’s episode of A League of their Own and he was asked which teammate was the most confident in his own ability.
“Mario Balotelli,” Richards answered, as transcribed by the Daily Mail. “He just thinks he’s the best at everything. Thinks he’s the best looking.”
That response prompted the show’s host, James Corden, to ask the current Villa captain about his 2011 bust-up with Balotelli.
“We were playing five-a-side and we were losing because he didn’t work, which is evident,” Richards said. “He swore at me in Italian and he thought I didn’t understand.
“But I know a bit of Italian lingo so I said, ‘Who you talking to?’ He said it again so we squared up and and I offered him out. But he said no.”
Jamie Redknapp then asked Richards if he’d have backed himself against Balotelli.
“I fancy myself against anyone!” Richards said.
Luckily “anyone” includes Championship strikers such as Andre Gray, Abel Hernandez and Daryl Murphy because signs aren’t promising for Aston Villa in the Premier League.
