Now one of the biggest boxers in the world, British fighter, Anthony Joshua has credited his boarding school days in Nigeria for teaching him discipline.
Joshua who is born to an Irish-Nigerian father, Robert and a Nigerian mother spent six months in Nigeria with his mum, Yeta when he was 11.
During that six months in Nigeria, Joshua was registered in a boarding school where he said he learnt discipline which has made him become one of the biggest boxers in the world.
“I think my mum was trying to do some business there; maybe she had it in her mind. You don’t just randomly decide to move there,” the 26-year-old told Daily Mail.
“She might have been thinking about it, but didn’t inform us because we were kids. We stayed out there, not long, only six months.
“It was a change and I thought I was going to go for the full course: 5.30am in the morning, up fetch your water, put like an iron in your water to warm it up. Your clothes had to be washed and ironed.
“It wasn’t an issue but I wasn’t prepared. It was a good discipline.”
Joshua further revealed that he was regularly beaten at home in Nigeria, praising the corporal punishment style prevalent in the country.
“We got beaten. That’s my culture: beating. The government raise your kids now; parents aren’t allowed to raise their kids, because there is so much control about what you do or what you say. In the (Nigerian) culture it’s family, outside support; everyone has a role in raising the kids,” he said.
“I thought I was in heaven (when I returned to England).
‘(But) when you are in sport you become a representation of people. I’ve got it (an outline of Nigeria) tattooed on my arm, so people can relate to me.”
The reigning IBF heavyweight champion will be facing Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley on Saturday, April 29 in a WBA championship bout.
About 90,000 fans are expected at Wembley for the fight, the biggest boxing crowd in the UK since the Second World War.
