British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has expressed his desire for his son, Joseph Joshua, to pursue a career outside of boxing.
In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Joshua revealed his concerns about the sport’s physical and mental toll, hoping his son will choose a different path.
Speaking to Desert Island Discs, Joshua revealed that his views about his son’s future had not changed. He said he would tell JJ to “do the best you can do”, when advising him about what he wanted to be when he was older.
“If I were to choose a career for him, I would ask him to probably look at accountancy because I think it’s good to understand numbers,” he said.
Joshua reflected on his own career, stating that boxing helped him channel his energies through difficult moments in his youth. As a teenager, he got into conflict with the police for fighting and became homeless at the age of 17. When he joined the boxing ring at the age of 18, it marked a watershed moment for him.
Joshua’s career took off after winning gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and he turned professional a year later. His 2017 victory over Wladimir Klitschko established him as a top heavyweight.
Joshua won all 22 of his first professional fights, 21 of which were within range, to establish himself as the most well-known knockout artist of his generation.
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The boxer’s career reached a low point in 2022, when he failed to reclaim the unified WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight championships from his rival, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua initially denied that the loss had a significant impact on him, but at a post-fight news conference, Joshua apologised, choked back tears, and put his head in his hands, claiming that the defeat tore him apart.
In an interview with Desert Island Discs, he stated that he went into a “dark room” for five days where he was unable to communicate with anyone in order to mentally heal from within.
