Anthony Joshua says he wants to be remembered for his achievements outside the boxing ring.
Joshua, who is set to defend his world heavyweight title against Kubrav Pulev at the SSE Arena London on Saturday, said he knows being one of the best boxers in the world won’t make him be remembered forever.
The British-Nigerian was speaking in an interview with Off the Cuff made available on DAZN, which was monitored by The PUNCH.
“I don’t care about that. No one in this room will remember certain athletes from years ago. Time doesn’t stop; I’ll only be remembered after boxing even if I was one of the all-time greats, for about 100 years maximum,” he said.
The 31-year-old said he was looking at building a school or a gym where great boxers would be developed.
“Time goes, so I’m not trying to put myself in people’s mindsets just for sport. I think long-lasting change…that can change a whole community. Education, maybe build a school. Once you put those bricks into the ground and you build all that, that won’t go anywhere for hundreds of years.
“That’s legacy. Maybe build a gym. Like, look at Finch ABC. It’s turned out Mason, Chisora, Me, Shaun, Benga, Sam, Patrick – great people that have come out of that gym. So, you know boxing gyms continuously turn over great people and that’s like a legacy. So, it’s not just based around me is what I’m trying to say. If I can do something that helps a community, I think that’s a bigger legacy than just focusing on me,” Joshua added.
