Anthony Joshua: Why I still live with my mother at 34

Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-British boxer, has explained his reason for living with his mother. 

In an interview with BBC, the 34-year-old former world heavyweight champion said “our culture” is the reason why he still lives with Yeta Odusanya, his mother.

He said it would be difficult to “leave my mum by herself” even when he finds the right woman to marry. 

“When a girl gets with me, she ain’t just marrying me, she’s marrying my family,” the Nigerian-British boxer said.

“I still live with my mum. In our culture, we grew up in our own family home. We support our parents. Why am I going to move out and leave my mum by herself, for some girl?

“Family is the most important thing. When a girl gets with me, she ain’t just marrying me, she’s marrying my family.”

‘I ONCE FOUGHT SIX GUYS ON MY OWN’

Joshua also explained why some of his knuckles are scarred, saying he got into a lot of fights during his younger days.

The boxer narrated how he got into a fight with six individuals and fought them on his own.

“I used to get in fights a lot when I was younger,” he said.

“My skin doesn’t heal too well. This knuckle, I went to get chicken one evening, and I ended up fighting six guys on my own.”

Joshua, who already has a son named Joseph, said he plans to have at least seven children.

In August, the boxer defeated Robert Helenius to secure his first knockout win in three years.

The victory came a few months after he returned to winning ways with the triumph over Jermaine Franklin in April. 

The win over Franklin was Joshua’s first victory since 2020 — after suffering two consecutive defeats to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.