ANTHONY JOSHUA handed himself a life sentence in the ring after the sport saved him from a lifetime behind bars.
The 30-year-old was a wayward teen involved in street fights and drug deals before his cousin convinced him to try boxing in November 2008.
In 2009 he was on remand in Reading prison after a fight and, even as late as 2011 he was arrested, while wearing a Team GB tracksuit, with 8oz of cannabis and given 100 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.
Inside just four years he was a millionaire Olympic champion and national golden boy and on Saturday night he bids to reclaim three of the four major titles snatched by Andy Ruiz Jr in June.
The turnaround has been miraculous and the stretch may go beyond 2023 when he had originally vowed to end the gruelling cycle of exercise, sacrifice and abstinence.
Rehabilitated AJ has been a model inmate and repaid his debt to society and his country in spades and he believes that mentality will see him once again crowned king of the heavyweight division.
The Englishman said: “When I had that second chance at life, when I was getting in trouble, I dedicated myself to boxing. I said I would put myself on a 15-year prison sentence to boxing and have that focus.
“When it comes to boxing, I just focus.
AJ ON HIS SPARRING PARTNERS
Tim ‘Mayhem’ Moten
“Timothy Moten is the same height and weight as Ruiz.
“It’s a completely different style to fighting a 6ft 6in boxer and I have picked up little tricks of the trade, it has been the right preparation. He has been here the whole 12-week camp.”
Derek Chisora
“That was brilliant, the last time we sparred was back in 2009-10. He is much better now, fitter and focused, he has developed over the years.
“He came with a Joe Frazier-style and he is strong on the inside so it was good to have someone challenge my strength and push me back. It was good to have the old Finchley Boys reunited.
Albon Pervizaj
“He was another short guy with quick hands, he works with Wladimir Klitschko’s manager Bernd Bonte and they sent him over. He came for a week.”
“I could go on longer. It’s just a mindset, a prison mindset, like a military mindset, lock-down. Training, focus, sleep. You have to have that mindset. You have to be in that regiment.”
“So when I went into boxing, I was getting into a lot of trouble, a major court case, I beat the court case, and I prayed ‘God, if you give me a second chance at life I will make all the changes in the world’.
“When I beat that court case, I got into boxing and I focused. Same thing with Ruiz, give me a second chance and see what I can do.”
In New York last summer, Joshua had spent his entire camp preparing for a 6ft 4in 22st Jarrell Miller juggernaut, only to have rapid-fisted six footer Andy Ruiz drafted in as a late replacement for the drugs cheat.
The substitution flushed hundreds of sparring rounds down the toilet and led to a seven-round demolition of the red hot favourite on his glittering US debut, after a third-round left hook wrecked his equilibrium.
So this time around the practice rounds have been forensically Ruiz-specific with 5ft 11in 19st stone American slugger Andrew Moten, pressure fighter Derek Chisora and fast- handed unknown German Albon Pervizaj part of a bulging squad of training rivals in Sheffield and Riyadh.
Joshua, now a student of the Sweet Science, explained: “Sparring is important because it is the closest thing you can get to the fight.
“They throw everything at me, if I do 12 rounds then it’s with five different people back-to-back and I am dealing with every shot coming at me.
“Am I worried about another left hook? I am worried about every shot in boxing, you have to be cautious. Ruiz and his people don’t get enough credit for his jab, he has a decent jab as well, we need to be prepared for that and that is why we got so many sparring partners in.
“It is important for fighters to invest in your sparring, we don’t always want to because it is a big cost but it’s the best way to prepare.”
Joshua visited his parents’ former home of Nigeria after the shock defeat and believes, like Marvel comic hero T’Challa of The Black Panther, he was resurrected by the African soil.
The ex-champ, with the country’s outline tattooed on his giant bicep, visited heartbreaking slums on his life-affirming trip and he feels the strength of his ancestors could help inspire him to rematch victory.
He said: “A lot of Africans don’t like to talk about their heritage, sometimes it feels like we don’t speak about who we are and where we have come from.
“But if you look across sport, and I know he is proud of his Mexican heritage too, when you look across the African continent, the sewer that we have risen up from, it is a powerful continent and people.
“I am glad I put my feet back on the continent after I lost and reconnected with the soil after a long time, it kind of revitalised me, brought me back to life.”Anthony Joshua drips in sweat as he works out for Andy Ruiz Jr fight
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