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.
The two-time former unified world heavyweight champion told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs he would much prefer if his son, Joseph Joshua, known as JJ, became an accountant instead, though he added that he wanted him to carve out his own future.
He has previously said he did not envisage a boxing life for his “little JJ”, wanting his son to be the “best man that he can be” instead.
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 was 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.
Reflecting on his own career, Joshua mentioned how boxing helped him channel his energy during difficult times in his youth. He got into trouble with the police for fighting as a teenager and was homeless at 17. Boxing became a turning point for him when he entered the ring at 18.
Joshua’s career took off when he won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and he turned professional a year later. His victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 was a defining moment, cementing his status as a top heavyweight.
Joshua won all of his first 22 professional bouts, 21 of them inside the distance, to establish himself as the most renowned knockout artist of his generation.
But the low point in the boxer’s career came in 2022, when he failed to recapture the unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles from his nemesis, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
As he tried to come to terms with the loss, Joshua at first denied it had a profound effect on him but at a post-fight press conference, Joshua was apologetic, choked back tears and held his head in his hands, saying the defeat tore him apart.
Speaking to Desert Island Discs, he said he went into a “dark room” for five days where he could not talk to anyone in order to heal from the inside mentally.