British ex-world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs), whose return in a fight against American Jermain Franklin was officially announced a few days ago,
confessedthat he does not have one clear favorite for the title of his favorite fighter, but at the same time he still listed several colleagues from the recent and distant past.
– Who is your favorite fighter?
— I always change my mind. I look more at stories. Like Mike Tyson. Then I like Holyfield because of his courage and his size and his will and the way he fought and who he fought in the division. Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. He fought the best fighters. He even fought George Foreman. You see what I mean. Here is a fighter. Then I look much, much back at someone like Salvador Sanchez. I think he is a really good fighter. His story…
— A tragic story.
Yes, he died young. Then even further back… There are a lot of old school fighters who had their own stories. There were fighters who didn’t have a shot at the title, like Charlie Burley. He is known as one of the best. Sam Langford and others. Their stories fascinate me. I like to look at what people have gone through. I love fighter stories.
Mike Tyson was the one who got me into boxing the fact that until he was 13 he was a mugger and a problem child and thanks to the environment and the way they set him up mentally… It wasn’t just bullshit, they changed his mind and he was able to become a heavyweight champion. This means that if you dedicate yourself to something, then you can do everything. And that’s why Mike is my favorite fighter. He was not a talented child, he never was. He was a young guy who was promoted to heavyweight champion. He should have gone to jail or ended up dead, but he ended up changing because of his determination and, of course, meeting the right people. And he became the youngest champion in history. It just shows that if you dedicate yourself to something, then you can do anything. That’s why I like Mike.
“Usyk showed me another level.” Interview Anthony Joshua