First to Publicly Acknowledge the Need, Anthony Joshua Wants to Open a Care Home for Retired Boxers

With over a decade of action as a professional boxer, Anthony Joshua has contributed more to the sport of boxing than most get the opportunity to. However, Joshua, 34, approaching the late years of his decorated career, has decided to do more for the people within it. As it turns out, the former unified heavyweight champion wants to start a care home for retired boxers!

According to a Facebook post by Paul Fairweather, a trustee of the Ringside Charitable Trust, the chairperson, Dave Harris, has been in discussions with John Oliver, another trustee and former trainer of Anthony Joshua. Fairweather revealed that Joshua, who is an ambassador for the organization, is interested in establishing a care home for retired boxers in collaboration with the Charitable Trust.

As per the organization’s official website, their primary goal is to rehabilitate ex-professional boxers who find themselves suffering from depression, alcohol dependency, injuries, and illnesses attributed to the sport of boxing. The post from Fairweather praised Joshua for his initiative, stating, “We would like to express our immense gratitude to Anthony Joshua for acknowledging the real unmet need for specialist support for ex-boxers following retirement from the sport”.

They further added, “Anthony Joshua is the first elite boxer to publicly acknowledge this need, and we hope that more from the boxing community will follow his lead”. Joshua’s action comes amid his own retirement speculations—a while back, he appeared in the Jonathan Ross show, where he revealed he wanted to retire at 35, but he is considering spending two more years in the sport. So, could his plan to start the retirement home be his last contribution to boxing, as part of his legacy?

Anthony Joshua wants to give something back to the sport that made him

In a conversation with Lauren Laverne on Sunday’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Anthony Joshua revealed he is in discussions with his former coach Oliver about opening the care home. “They suffer by themselves, so we’ve been speaking about opening up a care home… That would be part of my boxing legacy—that I gave something back to the sport that made me”, Joshua added.

Expressing the dangers of the sport, Joshua spoke about the importance of keeping one’s health intact, which fighters so often put on the line. He even pointed out how, despite being the most important thing, fighters barely speak about it among themselves. Instead, focus on winning. Perhaps Joshu’s dedication to the sport is because of how it helped him turn his life around. 

Despite coming into the world in Watford, Joshua spent a part of his childhood in a boarding school in Nigeria. By the time he had reached his teenage years, he had run-ins with the cops, which later led to him getting banned from Watford town centre for fighting. Things took a turn for the worse by the time he turned 17, when his mother had moved to London. However, his cousin Ben came in as a ray of hope by introducing him to the sport of boxing. “I’m really glad I found boxing—it changed me a lot,” Joshua said.

Having achieved so much in the sport during his decade long career as a professional boxer, Anthony Joshua is planning to cement his legacy in the sport by helping people. And let’s face it, boxing is as brutal as it gets—such contributions from people like Joshua are in high demand. What do you think of Joshua’s contribution?