ANTHONY JOSHUA sits alongside Eddie Hearn in a hospitality suite at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and observes a football pitch being turned into his battleground. He takes a second or two to examine what will be the focal point of 67,000 fans and turns to his promoter. The glee and anticipation is so pronounced it’s almost like he’s never experienced anything like this before. But this will be the third UK stadium in which the 31-year-old has performed and Oleksandr Usyk will be the fifth opponent he has faced in such surroundings.
โI am glad I came here when we did that Sky broadcast,โ Joshua says to Hearn with a more than a hint of excitement about the occasion ahead. โIt hit me then, it hit me. I never used to come to the venues before, I never used to test the ring, I never used to try the gloves, I just used to just rock up. But Iโm so glad I came here before, I got on my knees and I made a prayer and all that type of stuff. It makes a difference, a big difference. Itโs a phenomenal stadiumโฆ Do you reckon it can rival Wembley?โ
Hearn smiles. โI think so,โ he says. โSound-wise, itโs so compact. Itโs been three years this week since you last boxed at Wembley in front of a crowd like this.โ
โThree years?โ Joshua says, briefly drifting back to the night he stopped Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds.
โYes, three years,โ Hearn confirms. โBecause after that it was Madison Square Garden, 18 or 19 thousand [fans]. Then Saudi Arabia, 16, 17 thousand. A thousand against [Kubrat] Pulev. I canโt wait, mate.โ
โYeah.โ Joshua smiles. โIโm looking forward to it.โ
Saturday nights in Tottenham used to be different for Anthony Joshua. Long before he was selling out the local football stadium, he would head with his amateur gym-mates to the now-defunct Opera House nightclub on nearby Chestnut Road. Brandy was Joshuaโs drink of choice. But on the way, head-scrambling white cider or 20/20 โ the go-to beverages of the young, carefree and financially challenged โ would be consumed at haste.
It’s almost impossible to imagine that Joshua, particularly when faced with who he’s become. โWeโre all boxers so you canโt really fight us, do you know what I mean?โ he reflects with a chuckle. โThere was 10 of us and if we get into a fight, the bouncer is going to sling them out and then heโs going to tell us where they are [laughs]. โListen, theyโre round the cornerโ. So we was always on top.
โThey were fun days. Itโs gone quick, but they were fun days.โ
Joshua insists he remains that same street kid at heart. โIโm still about, but Iโm not about like that,โ he says, now laughing heartily. โWith me, Iโm still on the street. When Iโm not boxing, Iโm still on the street, Iโm still me, Iโm still a normal person. People still respect me. Iโm not a celebrity superstar saying, โstay awayโโฆ Boxing wonโt change me.โ
But it already has, of course. Today, his every move has to be meticulously planned. His face is among the most recognisable on the planet. Even if he hasnโt changed as a person, his life has. Immeasurably.
โThrough the lockdown, that was the best time of my life,โ Joshua explains about experiencing anonymity once more. โI was living a certain life and then boxing happened and my whole life flipped on its head. It was so quick, I wasnโt really prepared for what was around the corner. My whole world flipped. Everyone is that way and Iโm the other way, upside down and my world is spinning in the opposite direction. Then, during Covid [and the lockdown], when the world flipped on its head, I got to poke my head out and be like, โback to normal againโ. I was on motorbikes, scooters, it was just a blessing, free time, the garden, it was nice to be normal.
โBut the only difference is, boxing takes up a lot of time. I have to make certain sacrifices. But other than that, Iโm just chilling, bro.โ
Being able to chill, as he calls it, is because of the hard work he has grown to love again. After he lost to Andy Ruiz Jnr in a seismic shock in June 2019, Joshua was accused of growing too complacent atop the boxing world. Without question, that sobering setback inside New Yorkโs Madison Square Garden woke him up, reminded him of how it used to be. Six months later, in Saudi Arabia, he won every minute of the rematch.
Between lockdowns, in December 2020, Joshua pummelled Kubrat Pulev in nine rounds. He then began training for a fight with Tyson Fury before the biggest fight of his career infamously imploded. His focus immediately switched to Oleksandr Usyk, the former world cruiserweight champion who makes the business of fighting look like an artform. Usyk, without question, is the sternest challenge to Joshua outside of The Gypsy King.
โIt is going to be a nice night on Saturday,โ he says like you or I might describe a trip to our favourite restaurant. โSunday will come. And do you know what Iโm most looking forward to about this fight? Going back to training. I want to get back to practicing because I can feel myself getting better again.
โYouโll see a lot of improvements from the Pulev fight to this one. And then from this one to the next one, youโll see a lot more. Iโll get this done and Iโll get back to the gym. I look forward to that. You know why? Because when Iโm training, I am at my best, I am in that spiritual realm, I am zen-like. I am in the zone, I am looking after my body, I am isolating.โ
A prediction on how this fight will go?
“No,” he says sternly. “I am going to work, that’s all I’ll say. This is my job.”
Joshua is curiously nonchalant about Saturdayโs opponent but it shouldnโt be confused with overconfidence. Instead, that carefree attitude, ahead of a challenge that could wreck his career, is an indication of the graft he has already done. For this camp, he locked himself away from his family, from his beloved son, for two-and-a-half months. It is the kind of dedication one should expect from a top level fighter, but it’s nonetheless hard to fathom that a man with a reported net-worth of ยฃ115m remains so dedicated to such a brutal living.
โAs you move up the ladder in boxing, you can slip,โ he says. โYou can tick the boxes and say to yourself you have achieved everything. But as the years have gone on, I have become more disciplined rather than going the opposite way.
โIf you look at my fights from the first one, you will see a gradual improvement because I am really trying to see how good I can get.”