Ant's geared up for glory
BELTER JOSHUA CAN CLOBBER KLITSCHKO
WEMBLEY used to mean something very different to Anthony Joshua.
This part of London is where he would come in his late teens with his cousin, Ben Ileyemi, to buy fake designer gear at the local markets. Top of his shopping list were counterfeit Gucci belts – but tonight he is at Wembley Stadium earning £15m and fighting for genuine gold-laden ones from the IBF and WBA.
Joshua, 27, faces ex-heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in a mammoth clash in front of 90,000 at the home of football. His time of scuffling around these parts for fake goods is long gone as he looks to prove he is the real deal on the heavyweight scene tonight on the grandest of stages.
Joshua said: “What does Wembley mean? Hustling, the market, trying to get fake clothes. This is where the market is. This is where we used to come to get our CDs.
“It was on Sundays. We drove. Ben used to work in the JD Sports shop, I used to come and see him. What was the best things I ever bought? The belts.
“I like the jeans, the Evisu. It was like a statement pair of jeans, everyone knew they were Evisu jeans. And Air Force One trainers, they were about £20.”
It was Ben who took him from those markets to Finchley and District Boxing Club where his life would change for ever. Back then Joshua, 27, was heading for trouble and admits he was “f***ed before boxing”. There were numerous incidents in his early teens and then he was on remand in Reading for what is believed to have been street fighting.
When he started boxing in 2008 he was still on tag, but soon he would keep his fighting within the confines of the ring and suddenly there was no looking back.
By 2012, following one more setback when he was arrested for drugs possession, Joshua was Olympic champion and 16 fights in the professional ranks by 2016 saw him claim the IBF title he defends tonight.
This is just his 19th outing in the pro game, but he is already a multi-millionaire and victory tonight will see him become Britain’s biggest sports star, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
He has somehow kept his feet firmly on the ground. Joshua still lives with his mum in a Golders Green flat and keeps his friends from his teenage years by his side.
Crazy
He fears victory will make him so big that his weekend trips to the launderette may see crowds of people queuing outside to meet him as he deals with his washing.
But where Joshua really finds normality in the new crazy world he lives in is not at home with mum or at the headquarters of GB Boxing in Sheffield where he trains, it is when he is with his 18-month-old son Joseph and niece, Angel.
Joshua, who will have their names on his boots tonight, said: “It’s a time when I am so disconnected with what’s happening in the world – you are in the park and you become a kid.
“It’s like going on holiday, you take yourself away from the situation.
“When I am with them, I take myself away from the hustle and bustle of the world and concentrate on these kids who haven’t got a worry in the world. Normality.”
Joshua is in relaxed mood ahead of the biggest night of his career as he opens up about his relationship with his son.
“Everything I’m creating, I have someone to pass it down to because I’m not going to be here for ever,” he said. “He keeps me on course.
“All the things I gain in life – wisdom, material objects – are things I can pass on to the heir to the throne as such. That’s a nice relationship.
“I plan for him to go down the educational route because as a fighter, you don’t get to educate yourself. Eton or Harrow? I don’t even know what they are though.”
Joshua went to Wembley following the weighin yesterday to get a feel for the venue.
He has already visualised winning and losing in his dreams, but he has no plans to repeat the tears he shed following the last time he tasted defeat – in the final of the 2011 World Amateur Championships in Azerbaijan.
The unbeaten Watford-born fighter steps up against Klitschko, a fading fighter but one who is entering into his 29th world title fight and is vastly more experienced.
But this is the night the man who used to come to these parts for fake goods can prove he is a genuine heavyweight star. O Sky Sports Box Office will show Joshua v Klitschko exclusively live. To order the fight go to www.skysports.com/joshua