Anthony Joshua hauls pebbles at double-faced celebrity friends

 

Anthony Joshua says he cannot and will not forgive the celebrities who shunned him after he lost his world heavyweight titles in a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr last June.

AJ was previously undefeated and was lining up a title unification bout with Deontay Wilder before his defeat, although the American power puncher later lost to fellow Brit Tyson Fury anyway.

After his shock knockout loss, Joshua noticed many A-listers dropped him quicker than Ruiz did in his disastrous Maddison Square Gardens bout

But he vowed to maintain his down-to-earth lifestyle and not get caught up in celebrity glamour on his comeback journey.

Joshua, 30, said: “I always keep my childhood pals close, I have never been a celebrity brown-noser.

“When you have a No 1 record, a No 1 film or are a boxing champion and it all goes downhill, the celebrities are on to the next thing.

“But when you are with your people, who know you for you, nothing really changes. It was the people spectating from a distance who had a lot to say.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I know who I am and as I get older I am getting stronger and more resilient — no one will ever be able to break me.”

AJ’s promoter and Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn is working on an audacious plan to bring world title boxing back in July, with fan-free bouts held in the grounds of his company’s HQ in Essex.

Hearn insists his star attraction will not fight the IBF’s mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev behind closed doors.

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“I could tell you me and Pulev are going to do a small hall with loads of testing but the gyms are not even open,” he added.

“Until the government gives it the go-ahead, I don’t see how it can work.

“Unless we put a ring in a car park and people can watch from their cars.”