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Anthony Joshua has said he is considering opening a home for retired boxers with health problems.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday episode Desert Island Discsthe former heavyweight champion of the world said he discussed the issues facing ex-fighters with his former boxing coach John Oliver.
“They are suffering alone, so we talked about opening a home for the elderly,” Joshua said. “That would be part of my boxing legacy – to give something back to the sport that made me.”
The 34-year-old boxer reflects on the dangers of his sport. “All I hope for is to keep my health intact. Because your health is the most important thing you are betting on,” he said.
“We can notice it with fighters when their health is failing, but we never really talk about it with each other. All we focus on is winning.”
Joshua described how boxing helped him turn his life around as a teenager. Born in Watford, he spent part of his childhood in a boarding school in Nigeria.
During his teenage years, back in the UK, Joshua had run-ins with the police and was eventually banned from Watford town center for fighting. “I started getting into trouble – I wanted to make money spinning and trading,” he said. When Joshua was 17, his mother moved to London and he started selling drugs: “I was like homeless. I moved to a hostel.”
His cousin Ben introduced him to Finchley Amateur Boxing Club. “I’m really glad I discovered boxing – it’s changed me a lot,” he said. “You can turn your life around if you focus.” Three years later, Joshua competed in the Olympics. This August marks 12 years since he took the gold medal at London 2012 with a victory over Roberto Camarel. Olympic training was “really hard,” he said, telling Laverne that the psychological pressure can be intense, especially when you’re dealing with defeat. “I’ve broken down when I’ve lost before.” He revealed that he once spent five days in a dark room to help himself “heal”.
Joshua added: “That’s why I love music. Music can always set the tone for what I’m trying to achieve.”
Joshua said he is putting energy into the business side of boxing to ensure a secure retirement. Asked by Laverne about his decision to fight in big-money bouts in Saudi Arabia, which has been criticized for its poor human rights record, he said: “I’m there to box. I don’t do politics.”
His son JJ is eight. Joshua hopes he doesn’t follow him into boxing. “If I had to choose, I’d ask him to look at accounting.”
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