I will never let my son box – there would be a target on his back straight away, says Anthony Joshua

JOSEPH BAYLEY TEMILOLUWA PRINCE JOSHUA will not be allowed to inherit his dad’s world heavyweight crown.

Two-time king Anthony Joshua raced out of Saudi Arabia in December — after scorching Otto Wallin — to treat his eight-year-old son to Christmas in Dubai. On Boxing Day, he shared a snap of them posing in a pool.

Anthony Joshua doesn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps in boxinghttps://www.instagram.com/healthy_mindset/

Joshua is set for a big boxing fight against MMA legend Francis Ngannouhttps://www.instagram.com/anthonyjoshua/

Joshua doesn’t want his son to experience the same dark moments he did in the ringPA

In October his lad will turn nine and be old enough to train in amateur gyms — like AJ’s favourite Finchley ABC school. A year later he can  spar and enter competitions.

But 34-year-old AJ — who did not lace up a pair of gloves until he was 18 — will not let his son follow him into the hurt business.

Joshua declared: “I would never let him box. I am not interested in him boxing.

“You have to be so strong, you have to be so strong mentally to be a boxer.

“I am not saying he won’t be mentally strong but I would not want to put him through that ­mental pressure.

“I am sure he could fight, he will definitely have the genes to do it.

“But the mental side, that goes unspoken about, I would not want him to go through that.

“Imagine ‘Anthony Joshua’s son is boxing’ . . . there would be a target on his back straight away. Would I want to put him under that pressure? Probably not.

“I will advise him that he could probably still do something completely different and still enjoy life.

“During your career, when you are actually competing, you get the odd nice ten days, like that one in the swimming pool. But in the back of your head is always the next fight that is coming up.”

Joshua takes on MMA monster Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The Watford hero suffered a Saudi breakdown when he lost for the second time to Oleksandr Usyk in August 2022 — failing to recapture the WBA, IBF and WBO belts he lost to the Ukrainian in London 11 months earlier.

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Defeat dashed Joshua’s dream of becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

He threw his old belts on the Jeddah floor and hijacked Usyk’s post-fight speech before storming out of the ring.

Those frantic moments were fairly criticised.

But, in the press conference afterwards, the former bricklayer broke down and cried because he felt he had let down people in the UK.

Joshua admitted: “I was in a bad place — not a bad place, a bad moment.

“I had put so much into becoming undisputed  and I just fell short. The feeling was not good and I had to pick myself back up again.

Great highs and great lows

“I changed trainer after that and had a mix-and-match of everything going on.

“It took me  a year-and-a-bit to smooth things out and now we are just getting back to basics again.”

In his last fight, a dominant Joshua stopped Wallin in five rounds. He added: “I felt back to normal against Wallin.

“It’s a tough industry because I put everything into the Wallin fight and now it is just in the past.

“You get there, you do your best, everyone is watching and then it’s over and on to the next.”

That constant scrutiny and the sad fact that one attention-seeking critic can often shout over all the measured and considered praise, are two of the reasons why Joshua will keep his boy out of the ring and the spotlight.

‘This job is not fun’

He added: “This job is not fun. I get to enjoy showcasing my skill on Friday but to get to that point is not fun.

“It’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of passion and dedication, it takes a lot out of you.

“I’ll have to wait for 15 years to get  to the end of my career and think, ‘F***, I got through all that, now let me go and have fun now’.

“JJ could live a good life — from the day he is conscious of what that means. I have to wait until I retire before I can sit back and finally enjoy life.”

Joshua did not enjoy Tuesday night when he had to sit down at a private dinner and pose for photos with Ngannou and nemesis Tyson Fury.

The 35-year-old WBC champ is a constant thorn in AJ’s side with insults and trash talk. But the Gypsy King has actually HELPED his long-time rival recently.

Fury’s unexpected help

First, Joshua has picked up with Fury’s old trainer Ben Davison.

And, second, Fury was floored and only earned a split-decision points win over Ngannou when the Cameroon bruiser made his boxing debut here in October.

Recalling that bout, Joshua said: “It definitely helps. It helped get me motivated for the fight.

“Before I looked at this whole crossover thing as not serious.

“Before, if I had taken a crossover fight, people would have asked, ‘What the f*** is Anthony Joshua doing?’ I wouldn’t have been able to walk out of my house.

“But now people are taking it more seriously because of that fight.

Ngannou’s incredible journey

“It has helped to get me motivated and has given me more reason to take the fight.

“I can show how great I am and what I can do in the ring.”

Ngannou’s story is a magnificent one, from child labour in a Cameroon sand mine to becoming one of the most celebrated and richest men in prize fighting.

The 37-year-old former UFC heavyweight king is a genetic freak who looks like he was made by computer gamers.

Ngannou stands 6ft 4in, has thighs like tree trunks, a neck that resembles a human torso and a bowling ball head seemingly impervious to shock treatment.

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He weighs 21 POUNDS more than Joshua, too, scaling 19st 7lb yesterday, compared to AJ’s 18st.

 But Joshua, who has suffered painful losses against smaller men like Andy Ruiz Jr and Usyk,  prefers chopping fellow behemoths like 6ft 7in September KO victim Robert Helenius.

He explained: “Little fellas have been fighting big guys their whole life, so they just know what to do at the click of a finger.

“As a bigger guy you usually fight guys your height. I have fought all different guys but, yeah, I seem to get better knockouts against guys my height.

“Look at the performances against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius. One shorter guy who was smaller and nimble against a tall guy I found it easier to hit with.

“Ngannou is big and tall and I know what I have to do.”