Boxing star Anthony Joshua lines up a bout with apple crumble

 
Jeff Moore 16/08/12..UK gold medal winning boxer Anthony Joshua. at betfair offices in hammersmith.
Pi: Jeff Moore
Tom Harper17 August 2012

Anthony Joshua insists he has kept himself in peak condition since ensuring Britain had one more gold medal to celebrate on the last day of the Olympics with victory in boxing’s super-heavyweight class.

But his professional demeanour slips when asked what he most looked forward to now the years of training had finally paid off.

“Apple crumble,” he said, breaking into a grin. “That’s my favourite. That’s the way you get to my heart, ladies.” He points to his long-term agent. “James’s mum has cooked me a home-made apple crumble I’m going to tuck into later.”

The nation can surely allow him one night of indulgence. Joshua, 22, gave Britain its 29th, and last, gold medal when he came from behind in the last round to overwhelm Roberto Cammarelle, Italy’s defending Olympic champion.

Trailing by three points, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua dug deep to launch a flurry of punches and edged the fight after a judges’ recount. “I’m really determined so before the last round I got up, looked to the sky, and asked for something more,” he said. “I knew the score going into the last round but I didn’t panic. I knew he was tiring. I could read his body language. It just shows you can never give up.”

Born to Nigerian parents in Watford, Joshua now lives with his mother in a two-bedroom flat in a council block in Golders Green close to the Finchley Amateur Boxing Club where he trains. Despite interest from the world of professional boxing, the 6ft  6in giant is happy to take things easy over the next few weeks.

“It’s nice to be at home with the family seeing my cousins and aunties,” he said. “I missed my mum’s chicken salad. Neighbours have been congratulating my family. They saw how hard I trained. They believed in me.”

He is calm for a man who only picked up a pair of gloves four years ago yet stunned the world of amateur boxing with a display that echoed the feats of Lennox Lewis, who won gold at the Seoul Games in 1988.

Joshua said the raw emotion of the occasion did not hit him until he stood to collect his gold medal at Excel. “I’m not an emotional person, I knew this was going to be another chapter to my success story but when I was on the podium I was on a high.” There has been much speculation over whether Joshua will follow Lewis into professional boxing. “I’m contracted to GB boxing until March 2013 and I am proud to be a part of that,” he said. “Lennox Lewis has walked the path I’m walking and I have been talking to him.”

One interested observer on Sunday was world champion Wladimir Klitschko, on hand to assess Joshua as a potential opponent and perhaps as an addition to his K2 stable of fighters.

The one blemish on Joshua’s rise came in March last year, when he was arrested for possessing cannabis with intent to supply. He was suspended from Britain’s boxing squad and sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Anthony Joshua was speaking on behalf of Betfair who are proud to sponsor the British amateur boxing association in 2012

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