AJ aims to be household name
JOSHUA HAS SOMETHING TO PROVE TO HIS SON AS HE TAKES ON DANGEROUS RUSSIAN
ANTHONY JOSHUA may be the most recognisable face in British boxing right now. But at home it is a different story with his son JJ.
Joshua has started playing his two-year-old some videos of his fights, but he has not got the reaction he expected.
“I was showing him the other week and he went, ‘That guy looks like you, that guy looks like you!’ It was funny,” said Joshua.
“I don’t think boxing is for him. I hope he won’t be a fighter. It’s hard.”
Yet earlier this week JJ wanted to join him in the gym as Joshua put the final touches to his preparations for the clash with Alexander Povetkin at Wembley tonight.
Instead he was sent to a trampoline park with his gran, Joshua’s mum Yeta Odusanya.
And Joshua will not worry about his son seeing his dad involved in the brutal battles of the sport.
If he is going to be brought up in a nice house and be driven around in flash cars, then he will have to learn what his father does to afford such luxuries.
Joshua said: “Keep him away? No, no way.
“You’re going to see the tough times and the good times, but you’ll know what it meant to me and why I got involved in it. That’s what’s important.
“Have a look but ask questions. Don’t just be blinded by all the bright lights and stuff.”
Joshua will be looking to ensure his 22nd professional fight tonight brings another victory that he can show his son.
The expectation has never been greater for the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist as he faces his WBA mandatory challenger and a fighter who has been beaten only by Wladimir Klitschko in 35 fights.
Most outside of the sport believe Joshua will walk through the Russian, but the visitor brings a real threat.
This is a meeting between Olympic gold medallists and, outside of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, Povetkin is the most dangerous man in the division, even at the age of 39.
Maybe that is why Joshua is considering what defeat would mean for him – and why he insists one loss will not define him.
“That fear of losing is always there,” he said. “If Sugar Ray Robinson lost, the best fighter of all time can lose.
“Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe all lost. So who am I to go undefeated?
“But I am content with it because I know those nights of negativity don’t define me.
“I have lost before as an amateur and that didn’t deter me from
getting where I am today. The reality is, why is the heavyweight division interesting? Because one punch can change the course of a fight.”
Joshua’s last defeat was in the 2011 world amateur championships final against home favourite Magomedrasul Majidov in Azerbaijan.
“It was the first time I dropped a tear because it meant that much,” he said. “It was one of those Klitschko-esque fights. The Azerbaijan army was there, the president was there. That is what’s weird – as an amateur you lose, you go again and build yourself back up. But as a pro, you lose and people say, ‘Ah, he’s s***’. That’s why the fear of losing is a lot more now.
“I know that it could happen because I know how tough this sport is. There is only one winner and one loser.
“Look at a lot of the highlight reels of Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali knocking guys out. You don’t know any of their stories, his opponents are remembered for being the guy Muhammad Ali knocked out, or Mike Tyson knocked out.
“But what of that person’s whole career? It’s crazy in this sport. It’s
focused solely on the winner, it’s all about winning. The fear of losing is huge because you can lose everything. Scary sport.
“In boxing there’s no League One, League Two. You can’t say I am going to stay at British level and dominate and be king of that league. You are either the best or you’re not.”
But just as doubt appears to be in the mind of the Briton, he reminds everyone about his belief of who is the best in the division right now.
And according to the WBA, IBF and WBO champion it certainly is not Wilder, Fury or Povetkin
“I’m the best in the division,” said Joshua. “There is no doubt about it. It has been proven.”