ANTHONY JOSHUA, the Olympic gold medallist and reigning IBF heavyweight world champion, has paid tribute to Muhammad Ali, who died on Saturday aged 74.
โAli was a legend of our sport. He changed boxing forever,โ Joshua tells todayโs edition of ES Magazine.
โFor me as a kid he inspired me to represent myself like a champion inย andย out of the ring. I never got the chance to meet him,โ he continued but adds, โhis legacy will live on.โ
Joshua does reveal a touch of ambivalence about the harsher aspects of the sport. โMy coach makes me understand how dangerous this sport is. I try not to think about it. I want to knock my next opponent out, I definitely want him down. But I walk around and people are shouting, โAJ knock him out! Knock him out!โ And itโs weird. Imagine people applauding you for committing a crime. Itโs like that for me. You really donโt think about the crime until you get caught. If anything ever happened to one of my opponents after I hit them and I caused them injury, I would realise what a serious business this is,โ he said.
The full interview appears in this weekโs issue ofย ES Magazine,ย out todayย