Joshua reveals he has lost ‘close friends’ to coronavirus
Anthony Joshua has opened up on his heartbreak at losing “close friends” to coronavirus.
The WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world champ is laying low during the pandemic but released a video on his own YouTube page.
Joshua, 30, who trains at Finchley Boxing Club in Barnet, North London, said: “Wherever you are in the world, I’m just checking in personally for everyone to just say that I hope you’re all well, you’re all keeping safe.
“This is a message to say you’ve got my support, we’re all doing the right thing.
“To the people who are suffering with coronavirus, I wish you a speedy recovery because it is no joke.
“To the ones who have suffered, and lost loved ones, I want to say keep your head up. You’ve got my love. Blessings to you and your family and condolences.
“I’ve lost no one immediate to me but I’ve lost close ones from my boxing gym, close friends, friends of friends, and it gets serious when it starts coming closer to home.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson bemoaned a “sad day” yesterday as it was announced 563 people had died due to the virus – the UK’s biggest one-day death toll yet.
Finchley Gym was where Joshua started training as a raw 18-year-old.
He made a surprise visit back there in January last year, stunning amateur wannabes on his ‘Back 2 Basics’ trip.
And he bought the club a team bus in 2018 before recently sharing amazing throwback photos showing himself training there as a skinny teen.
Joshua was due to take on his IBF mandatory challenger the Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev on June 20, but the fight was recently postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
A new date has been set and announced by Pulev for July 25 but a venue has not yet been decided.
It is expected that the fight could take place behind closed doors after promoter Eddie Hearn recently said that he hopes that boxing will return in June but believes it to be more realistic for July.
Hearn told iFL TV: “I’m hoping that we can see boxing back in June. I’m confident we’ll see it back in July.
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“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in terms of dates. There’s People talking about doing events behind closed doors, definitely something we’ll look at.”