Like his predecessor in the ring, Mike Tyson, Nigerian-born boxing sensation Anthony Joshua says he doesn’t want his son, Joseph Joshua, aka, JJ, to become a boxer.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the British heavyweight Anthony Joshua says it would not be a “wise decision” for his son to follow in his footsteps and become a professional boxer.
This brings to mind the same conversation that Tyson, the American professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005, had with eldest son Amir when the guy was a teenager.
While sharing his thoughts about his parenting experience, the 57-year-old retired boxer said, “I had my oldest son who was 16 telling me he wanted to become a professional boxer.
“But stop there, you’re stup!d, you went to a private school! You can’t be a boxer, you’ve taken trips to Europe, you’ve been around the world. You can’t be a fighter with that.
“You want to fight guys like me? Animals? I don’t want my kids to go through that, it’s degrading. I said, ‘Man, just chill the f— out.’
“I said: ‘Man, just get a job. Get a real estate license. Just chill out, man. Why can’t you take advantage of your lightweight wealthiness? Just chill.’
“You don’t want none of that heat. I’m telling you … getting humiliated in front of millions of people. You gotta be able to take that pressure and heat. Not many people can do it.”
“Boxing, you do it when you have nothing. It’s a lot of sacrifices, pain, suffering. I took the blows so that my children wouldn’t have to do it.”
In his own case, AJ, the two-time former unified world heavyweight champion said he would much prefer if his son JJ became an accountant instead, though he added that he wanted him to carve out his own future.
Joshua first entered the ring aged 18 when his cousin suggested he take up the sport, which he said became helpful to “channel my energy”.
Five years later, he became a household name when he picked up gold at the London 2012 Olympics.
Beyond the world of boxing, AJ is known to be a fiercely private man for whom loyalty to family is of paramount importance. He grew up as one of seven children living between his mum’s house and his dad’s place.
In various interviews, he spoke fondly about his mother Yeta Odusanya, and his son, JJ.
Soon after his career took off, he bought a place for his mum to live in. “When you step up as a man in the house, freedom is making sure your parents are taken care of as well,” he told the BBC.
“For me, that’s freedom knowing that no matter where I am in the world, my mum’s happy, she’s taken care of.”
