HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION SET FOR BIG PAYDAY LIVES IN PUBLIC HOUSING WITH HIS MOM.

LONDON • A one-time bricklayer who still lives with his mother in public housing is tipped to become one of the richest sportsmen in British history after winning the world heavyweight title.

Anthony Joshua, who did not enter a boxing ring until he was 18, is set to pass David Beckham, Andy Murray and Rory McIlroy as he is tipped to earn hundreds of millions from fights and sponsorship.

Estimated to be worth $23 million before the weekend, he will take home $26.5 million from Saturday night’s fight.

The fact that Joshua does not throw tables at press conferences or “trash talk” his opponents means he is attractive to sponsors. He already has the backing of Lucozade, Lynx, StubHub and Sky Sports.

Nigel Currie, a sports marketing consultant, said: “He’s poised to become the highest-paid British sportsperson of all time. It’s that big. He’s got everything going for him.

“He’s fantastically articulate, he’s fun, he’s very engaging and communicates well, which is a terrific asset. Heavyweight champion of the world is one of the highest-earning positions.”

Despite his success in front of a postwar record audience of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, Joshua, who has insisted that “being a boxer, you have to be a man of the people,” lives with his mother, Yeta Odusanya, a social worker, in Golders Green, north London.

She was not there to watch his success as Joshua has banned her from his fights and she refused to comment as she left their home Sunday, but gave two thumbs up when asked if she was proud of him.

His defeat of Wladimir Klitschko means that Joshua has retained his IBF world heavyweight title and added the vacant WBA and IBO belts.

Born in Watford, England, Joshua and his family moved back to Nigeria, where he grew up, before returning to Britain as a teenager.

He found himself in trouble with the police and had been warned for fighting by the time Ilyemi took him to the gym in north London, in 2007.

Joshua has admitted: “But for boxing, I would be behind bars.”

While working as a bricklayer in 2009 and boxing as an amateur, Joshua was arrested for street fighting and spent time in jail before being released with an electronic tag. Then, in 2011, he was pulled over and arrested for possession of cannabis. He escaped jail but the offence led to a temporary ban.

“The arrest changed me a lot,” he later said. “It forced me to grow up and to respect my responsibilities.”

He said: “I’d like to inspire kids, and I’d even like to go and do talks in prisons, because I think they will know my story and understand me.”