Anthony Joshua on his love for his mother

Lauren Laverne (0:13)

Hi, it's Lauren Laverne and this is Desert Island Discs Postcards, a selection of some of our most memorable moments from the thousands of people we've cast away to our imaginary desert island.

Today's postcard comes to you from the heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua. He made his comeback a couple of months ago after surviving a car crash which killed two of his friends last year. When I interviewed him in 2024, he credited his mother for bringing him up alone following his parents' divorce.

Anthony Joshua (0:42)

The cycle of life, right, will mean one day my mum won't be here with me. And it hurts already to think that because she's done so well to raise someone like me.

Tough, hard-headed, hard-working son. And I know how tough it must have been for her. You know, she was a single mum at a certain stage in her life. And now as a dad, I really applaud her for the effort she put in raising me and my sister.

It's not easy being a social worker as well, a lot of pressure. She's worked hard, taking me to school in the morning. I never used to like school as well, so getting me to school was also a chore as well. It wasn't easy. Like, yeah, school, I'm up, let's go. I was like school.

Lauren Laverne (1:20)

Every step of the way.

Anthony Joshua (1:21)

Yeah, every step of the way. Trying to look ways to bunk off school, putting my mum under immense stress, but now I can only pay her back with my love. Yeah.

Lauren Laverne (1:31)

And when you think about the values that she had, what do you think you've inherited from her?

Anthony Joshua (1:35)

It's a responsibility for me to make sure the young ones coming up get looked after and they have an uncle, a fun uncle, I call it, the fun uncle that can take care of these kids.

Lauren Laverne (1:45)

The two of you, you and your mum are still very close, and until not that long ago, you still lived together in her flat, her ex-council flat, you'd bought it for her. I was interested that people were surprised by that. You know, that as soon as you made money, you didn't just immediately buy a mansion in the Shires and move out. I wonder what they were missing.

Anthony Joshua (2:05)

Cause it's a natural thing to do as you get to a certain age, you want to move out. Probably you want your freedom. I think that's what it is, you want your freedom. But when you step up as a man in the house, freedom is making sure your parents are taken care of as well. I think that gave me a mental freedom, knowing that I didn't leave the nest that wasn't, the foundations weren't strong yet, because I didn't want to leave my mom alone, do you know what I mean? So I wanted to make sure that my mom's foundations were strong, the nest was strong, so when I leave, mom's good.

And for me, that's freedom, knowing that no matter where I am in the world, my mom's happy she's taken care of and I'm free.

Lauren Laverne (2:38)

So had all the other kids flown the nest?

Anthony Joshua (2:39)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lauren Laverne (2:40)

You wanted to get your mom's cell?

Anthony Joshua (2:41)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I did, yeah, definitely.

Lauren Laverne (2:43)

But I love the idea that, you know, you were still going to the laundrette in Golders Green when. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anthony Joshua (2:49)

Do you know what I had a mentality of, right?

So being a world champion, living in the flat, I said, if I can conquer the world, like in my bedroom, because that's like where I handle all my business. I'm someone that likes to stay in my room. And then when I get the opportunity to go and conquer more and I get that mansion I dream of, I'll be able to take over the universe. So that was my mentality.

Lauren Laverne (3:09)

Does your mom watch you fight? Does she come to the fights?

Anthony Joshua (3:12)

She will come, but she actually stays in the hotel. And she will pray.

Lauren Laverne (3:15)

Just too difficult to watch?

Anthony Joshua (3:17)

I can imagine so. It's her son.

It's hard to watch. It's tough. But one thing I always did, I always kept boxing and my lifestyle separate. So my mom, I'm your son, before I'm a boxer. So I'll always come home as your son, no matter if I win or I lose.

Lauren Laverne (3:32)