DIFFERENT FIGHT
Joshua swaps boxing gloves with placards
World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua told a Black Lives Matter march on Saturday protesters were the “vaccine” to the “virus” of racism.
“The virus I am referring to is called racism,” he said, comparing its effects to the damage done by Covid-19.
“How long are we going to allow racism to spread through our communities?” the 30-yearold British boxer asked.
Worldwide protests under the banner of Black Lives Matter took place on Saturday in response to the death of George Floyd, a black American who died in Minneapolis last month while being arrested by police officers.
“You are the vaccine, I am the vaccine,” Joshua, said at a rally in his home town, Watford.
“Killing a person outright is unforgivable, but stripping them of their human rights, oppressing them, mocking them, insulting them, placing glass ceilings above them ... is just a slower way of killing them and taking the life out of their soul,” he said.
Joshua was on crutches at times on Saturday and was also seen wearing a knee brace, but a spokesperson said it was just a “precautionary measure”.
The reigning WBA, IBF and WBO title-holder had felt a “slight twinge” in his left knee in a training session last week.
But his camp insisted there was no cause for alarm.
“The brace is a precautionary measure on the advice of physios,” the spokesperson said. “It will be further checked by his doctors but there is no immediate concern.”
Joshua was due to defend his belts against Kubrat Pulev at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, only for the bout to be postponed because of the pandemic. —