It was a classic bout. The fight of the decade, the clash of the titans: Johnson -vs- Paxman, duking it out for the World Heavyweight Title in Manchester. It didn’t even get to the judges. Paxman jabbed and weaved but The Hair From Henley had the measure of his opponent from early on in the first round.

But was the fight even more one-sided than our ring-side commentator relates?

Reports are coming out that the interview – which is set to become a YouTube classic as these things tend to, was edited to protect Paxman’s blushes from many of BoJo’s counter-punches. Just watching the version broadcast by the BBC it’s a barnstorming performance, but was it actually even better? The recorded version on Monday night’s show saw the two men clash over Mr Paxman’s reputed licence payer-funded £1million salary. The unscreened exchanges are said to have included a section where the Mayor, whose post pays around £140,000, pointed out that Londoners could see how much he earned while TV personalities are not subject to the same level of openness.

Boris is said to have challenged the presenter five or six times to say what he earned, then turned to others in the studio and said: ‘He won’t tell us, he won’t tell us.’ Paxman had probed Boris about what David Cameron was like during his time at University and in the Bullingdon club, but in a further section that was not broadcast it is understood he challenged the Newsnight host about his university days. The London Mayor is said to have asked the presenter what sort of societies he had been a member of when he was at Cambridge. According to insiders this once again was cut out.
Boris had a series of great lines, but ‘Is this what Newsnight has come to, is this the depths that you have plumbed to?‘ really hit the mark on a political programme which aspires above mediocrity.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘Anyone watching the programme, rather than simply a report about it, will have seen a robust and lengthy interview that featured a light-hearted exchange where Jeremy was questioned about his salary.’ Light-hearted? Paxman was pwned (ask your children).

If the edited version was such a five-star Boris triumph then goodness only knows what gems are sitting on the cutting-room floor. Show us, BBC! (After all, we’ve paid for it) Put the unedited version up on t’interweb!

The edited version, for your viewing delight….