"There's a red carpet being rolled out in front of me and I just have to walk down it the best way possible and have my respect as I'm going down this red carpet...I've got a lot wiser because it's easy to lose focus when you're getting offered opportunities and, you know, different things come your way that weren't there before. But you can never lose focus of boxing is the most important thing...Every lion roars that I fight. Every lion's going to roar when they come to a fight, but it's just the last one standing, that's what's important. That's what people remember, who's the last man standing," stated undefeated IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who was raw and uncut as he opened up about his reign as heavyweight champion and his fast-rising superstar status. You don't want to miss what else he had to say! Check it out!
BT: There's a saying that goes something like, "You're not really a true champion until you defend your title." So AJ, now that you've had a chance to not only win, but also defend your title, what does it feel like to be heavyweight champion of the world right now?
AJ: If I'm completely honest, like there's a red carpet that someone's laying out in front of me and I'm just walking down it. It's great to be heavyweight champion, but it was far beyond my wildest dreams in the sense that when I began boxing, I never had any influence, much support, or much knowledge of what I was getting myself into. I got into boxing because my cousin was training and I needed some sort of discipline at the time. So for me to have got into boxing and to have, um...like any other kid, I went to the local club and I just trained. Now to be respected as a heavyweight champion of the world, as I said, it's beyond my wildest dreams, so that's why I use the phrase of there's a red carpet being rolled out in front of me and I just have to walk down it the best way possible and have my respect as I'm going down this red carpet.
BT: Is everything that's happening to you right now and in this moment exactly like you envisioned it would be?
AJ: So, completely honest, within boxing, yeah. There's obviously things that happen in your private life, your day-to-day life, that are unexpected, but yeah, everything in boxing I've kind of envisioned and predicted and I've played to that course as much as possible.
BT: Throughout your journey to the top of the division, do you feel like you've changed at all, whether that be inside or outside of the ring?
AJ: I just feel that I've definitely become a lot wiser and smarter than I was when I was younger. When I first started boxing, I wasn't as wise as I am now, so it was just like, "Aw, this is great. I'm doing well." But now I know if I become undisputed champion of the world, I think to myself, "Okay, this is going to come with this responsibility. I've gotta make sure that this is in place and this in place. As much as the opportunities come and the responsibilities come, always keep boxing the main focus and don't lose sight of that." That's one thing I've got a lot wiser because it's easy to lose focus when you're getting offered opportunities and, you know, different things come your way that weren't there before. But you can never lose focus of boxing is the most important thing.
BT: Is it difficult to juggle those added responsibilities and still keep boxing the number one priority?
AJ: You know, it can be, and I sense that I can and I fight in order to make sure that that doesn't happen. So I make sure that I spend a lot of my time, even if I'm not in the gym; you asked me what I'm up to today and I said, "We're handling business," so I spend a lot of time putting the right people in the right places to make sure that my interests and the interests of themselves get handled the best way possible. So while I'm training, I know that there's certain things for my future that's still picking over, so that way boxing is always my priority and the right people are handling things and it gives them an opportunity and myself an opportunity, so everyone has a priority in the camp.
BT: When success comes quickly, as it did for you, I'm sure you get a lot of new friends just as fast. That said, was it difficult to put together the right team and trust that they always have your best interest in mind?
AJ: I think that comes with age, and then I think also you kind of learn that. You know, when you come from like humble beginnings and if you're given opportunities to do well for yourself, then the next opportunity that comes from it is you can do well for others as well. But then you say to yourself, "Well, if I can't have the right people around me doing well for myself as well, then the empire comes crumbling down, so we need powerful people in these positions." And then I say to myself, "Okay, with my friends, I've got certain friends that I can have a good time with and we laugh and we joke; then I've got certain friends that when it's time to do business, it's time to handle business," so I separate the two when I've got friends. They're all my friends, but I know who I can do business with and who the friends are around me just to have a good time and a laugh with.
BT: A lot of times in boxing, the subject of loyalty is brought up a lot; whether it be between fighter and trainer, between promoter and fighter, between fan and fighter, or even amongst the fighters themselves. Do you think that loyalty is hard to find in this sport?
AJ: In my heart, I would say no. If I'm looking for loyalty from fans and supporters, then I can definitely say it's hard to find that, but when I look around me, I feel really like, I feel cool, I feel calm, and then, you know, at the same time, you can't trust anybody 100%, so I don't expect nothing from anyone. I always try to under expect, so when they do more than I could imagine, I'm always grateful. So no one's let me down yet.
BT: What about the biggest critics out there, the boxing media? Today they may be singing your praises, but if you have one bad night at the office, it doesn't take long for them to be calling for your retirement.
AJ: It's interesting. This is my philosophy on this and it comes back around to why you can't put your trust in all your supporters. If I was to sit with everyone who wanted to sit with me for instance and had time, I could probably guarantee I could convert all of the people into people who understand me and appreciate what I do, you know. But what happens is that I think that the only way they've heard about me is through a media outlet, which is the beauty of it because guys like yourself are doing a great job of making what I do a global attraction, so without you guys, there wouldn't be no global Anthony Joshua. So I respect it, but then I say to myself, but, so you guys could put up great articles about me for the next five years and turn me into this phenomenon. As your subscriptions grow, the more you put me in your subscriptions, my fan base grows and then they only hear about me through what the media outlets mention. Then as soon as you guys could then say something negative, instead of these people understanding the reasons why I've done it on a personal level, they only believe what's been put through following the subscriptions of the media. So the only thing about the media is that it doesn't give the people reading or listening a personal feeling for the athlete that they're writing about. As you said, taking a quote and using it in a way to manipulate the situation. That's it.
BT: Do you think the boxing media in general may be too hard on fighters?
AJ: I would say no because I think if they weren't so hard, you wouldn't get the Floyd Mayweathers, you wouldn't get the Mike Tysons, you know, you wouldn't get the Sugar Ray Leonards. In order to be respected in boxing or even get a little bit of respect in boxing, you've seen the heights you have to go to. Look at Floyd. He's still, you know, 49 and 0 and maybe he doesn't get the credit he deserves yet, for what reason, I don't know, but he's a phenomenon, he's a mega-star, he's an icon. What he achieved is amazing, but in boxing, it's so hard to get that respect. But as I said, without that type of harsh comments, the critics, maybe Floyd would not have gone on, you know, because everyone says that their haters are their inspiration. What's that song [Poppin'], um, "If you ain't got no haters, you ain't poppin' nigga! If you ain't got no haters!" (Laughing) If you know that one, that's what I'm saying. Everyone feeds off of negative energy. We need it. We need it, so I respect it. It only pushes people to be better.
BT: Do you feel like you're getting the credit you deserve at this stage of your career now?
AJ: Not yet because I look at it this way. I say, when you look at Anthony Joshua, I never put out anything about my boxing. The only sport related stuff that I put out is when I'm in the gym doing conditioning work. So I think the believers buy into; I've always tried to let them buy into me as a person, so I've always stripped away the boxing. So I say with or without boxing, I want these people to respect me and what I stand for, and that's the hunger, the people's person, and that's what I think they buy into. But then I look at the people who follow me for boxing and some of them can say, "You're fighting cab drivers and tomato cans," and I'm saying, "Yeah, but you've got to give a fighter like me time because I'm 17 fights in." So I gained the respect of people from my character, what I stand for, but the boxing fans want to say who can they compare me to, like Floyd Mayweather, "He can go on and be 49 and 0," or "he's going to be the next Mike." So they want to see is this guy the real deal. But it's a hard place to be in because I want their respect and the attention of the people, so they're watching my every move now and they want to see is this guy the real deal?
BT: It seems like a lot of your opponents like to talk a little smack before stepping into the ring with you. I know you have no problems returning the favor, but it's not something you often do. Why is that?
AJ: Well, it depends because I have to balance my mindset. Sometimes I feel, you know, like ripping their heads off their shoulders. I don't want to talk reckless, but I can feel like stepping to them sometimes saying, "Shut the fuck up," or I get to the stage where I'm just like, "Fuck this geezer! He's talking shit and we'll bust his jaw when I see him in the ring." I just think, fuck it, let him keep on talking because when it comes to it, fist to fist, we're going to find out who the big man is. The funny thing is they always show respect after, so it's like bow down. Every lion roars that I fight. Every lion's going to roar when they come to a fight, but it's just the last one standing, that's what's important. That's what people remember, who's the last man standing.
BT: What's that feeling like to be the last man standing, especially after listening to weeks of trash talk from an opponent?
AJ: You can see in some of my fights, it's funny; I laugh. Sometimes in my face, you can see I'm laughing after my fights. It's like, that's what we say in the UK, "Chat shit, get banged!" That's one of our mottos. They chat shit and they get banged. It's not like chat shit, get outboxed. In the heavyweight division, you can get knocked out, so it's like chat shit, get knocked out really. (Laughing)
BT: (Laughing) It definitely looks satisfying.
AJ: Look at the Johnson fight after I stopped him. I started to believe what he was saying, he was talking so much. I was like, "Shit, this guy might actually beat me!" (Laughing) He was talking reckless. I was laughing when I beat him.
BT: If there was one misconception about you out there that you would like to change, what would it be?
AJ: Probably Eddie Hearn's my boss or I'm a little puppet. I don't know; boxing's changed, you know. This ain't the dark ages now. Everyone does good business. I'm going to go back to Floyd again. The guys we looked to years ago were controlled by like Don King. Now it's the new age; everyone wants to be their own boss. So just for people to understand that beyond the gloves, there's a man who values the mind he's been given and is trying to exploit the information available in this day and age, so we're definitely trying to do good business in the UK.
BT: Actually, I think that's real important to point out because there's still a lot of fighters who don't have any control at all over their careers.
AJ: It's quite interesting because, I mean, people are being dictated to, what they should do, what they shouldn't do, and what they're gonna make; boxing is like the sleeping giant. There's real good opportunities out there to tap into the business side of it. I have my own commercial company, so I have employees that work on my commercial and I have employees that work on the show that kind of dictate how I want the show to run. If I wanted flying saucers in there, I could have flying saucers. It's on the budget of the show, but because I'm running the show, I can just dictate what I want, you know what I mean. Yeah, I have a definite influence on who I fight as well. The only thing with who I fight, right, is when I turned professional, I stuck with my amateur coach, who took me from my local boxing club to the Olympic stage. Throughout my boxing, I learned how to manage myself. I make decisions and with my coach, he says, "I will always do you right in the sense that you are a fighter and you're willing to fight anyone, but you have a career that has longevity that I need to guide in the right way. So you just, like, have as many learning fights as you can while you can, because when we take you to that next level, you're going to win and there's no turning back." So he kind of gives me that direction I need and takes away that, "I want to fight whoever it is and the best right now." He kind of just goes, "Let me guide your career." And he goes, "I don't want you to come back to me when you're 40 years old and ask me, 'Why did you put me in that fight? Why did you put me in this fight when I wasn't ready?' Because you're young, you're ambitious, but trust me." He's just like, "I don't want you to make the wrong decisions and come back to me." Like everyone has a manager, right? He's like my manager/trainer, so he guides my boxing fights and stuff like that. Because that's how we roll; we discuss who we're going to fight and we get the ball rolling.
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ANTHONY JOSHUA UNVEILS PLANS FOR UNIFICATION; TALKS NEXT OPPONENT AND STATE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
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