Back to business for a real athlete
I’M STRONGER THAN EVER SAYS JOSHUA
ANTHONY JOSHUA believes life in lockdown has helped him return to focus on being an athlete rather than juggling business life.
The WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion is excited about fighting in front of 1,000 fans next week against Kubrat Pulev.
Joshua, 31, usually has to manage his time between training and fulfilling his array of sponsorship duties.
But for the past nine months he has spent more time in the gym than ever once he got the green light to return to training.
“I have lived the life of an athlete for the first time,” said Joshua.
“If you think since I first got into boxing, after a year and a half I was fighting at world championships, fighting Sergei Kuzmin, then I turned pro and we were straight away selling out the O2, and with that there is pressure. I have been building the sport as well with my companies, which have done a great job and it has meant putting myself forward.
“With them shut down during the pandemic I was allowed to train properly. I have lived that nine months as an athlete and it has been a blessing – I’ve progressed a lot.” Joshua has been used to filling venues since he won Olympic gold at London 2012. No British fighter has drawn bigger crowds than the Watford warrior, with Wembley and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff regularly sold out.
But next week it will be like going back to the amateur days on the road with just a few fans allowed into Wembley Arena.
Joshua believes this will be the smallest crowd he has fought in front of since an Olympic warm- up tournament in Hungary in 2012.
“The pressure is off, you can get in your rhythm,” he said.
“And I think I need that sometimes – I am under a lot of pressure.
“I am physically good but mentally you have to stay strong.
“This year has been good to unload a lot of pressure and fighting in front of 1,000 fans is not so bad. You have to take it as a positive and control what you can control.”