JOSHUA: I’M MORE SCARED OF SPIDERS THAN FIGHTING!

ANTHONY JOSHUA is more frightened of finding a spider under his hotel bed than of fighting an American even bigger than himself. Britain’s IBF world heavyweight champion admits: ‘I’m terrified of creepy-crawlies. Can’t stand them near me. Ugh. Hate them. ‘Just the thought of a spider really gets under my skin.’ Not so Dominic Breazeale, his challenger in London’s sold-out O2 Arena this Saturday night. The Californian stands 6ft 7¼in and, like the 6ft 6in Joshua, is undefeated with 15 knockouts in 17 bouts. But he is expected to go the way of all AJ’s 16 professional opponents to date. Out flat on his back. Joshua fears no man and says: ‘The only other thing I’m afraid of is losing. ‘That’s one reason why I put the work in every day. If I allowed myself to think Breazeale is easy I wouldn’t have trained so hard.’ By most estimations the first challenger for the title Joshua (below) claimed by swatting another over-hyped American, Charles Martin, will provide only a marginally stiffer test, though Joshua hints he may give fans a few more rounds this time. ‘I won’t be rushing into anything,’ he says. ‘I need some rounds to keep developing my confidence.’ Soon Joshua will be ready for world championship unification fights against fellow British title-holder Tyson Fury and America’s WBC champ, Deontay Wilder. But he warns the boxing public not to expect those fights to happen this year: ‘Being the fighting man that I am, I would get in the ring with either of them,

or with Wladimir Klitschko if he beats Tyson in their re-match. But my team are persuading me there’s no rush... I’m thinking next year.’ As for Saturday, his only concern is whether he will get the chance to show how fleet of foot he can be: ‘I want to do some moves.’ If he impresses, might that lead to a different TV appearance? ‘I’ve already done Top Gear,’ he says. ‘Maybe I can find enough time to do Strictly Come Dancing.’ But not I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Never. Not with all those creepy crawlies.

lJOSHuA v Breazeale will be live this Saturday night on Sky Sports Box Office.