Anthony Joshua

“It takes a certain type of man to become a boxer, to fight for a living. To be able to have the confidence to hit another man, to control your fears. You must overcome the psychical aspect and believe in the art, the discipline of the sport. You need to study. You need to be smart.”

“Boxing's a sport that gives you licence to act like an idiot, I think.”

“For me to have a cheeky little biscuit, it's not going to hurt. But I need to control those indulgences. I can't just be scoffing cakes and biscuits five nights a week.”

“The way I meditate is by being organised. I can get real Zen if I go home and tidy the front room.”

“I realised that I could either fight and get into trouble on the street or I could fight and get paid in the ring. I chose the ring.”

“I didn't make the most of school, but boxing has given me discipline.”

“I am nice, yeah. I'm cool. But I'm no push-over. And if someone gets one over on me, they've done it when my eyes were closed, and it doesn't happen twice.”

“People who do crime do it for reward. But you end up in jail - that's no reward. Through crime, your ambitions are low.”

“You have to speak from a place where all is possible. When you speak from a place where there's limits, you've already set yourself up to fail.”

“I'll get seven hours sleep a night, but after breakfast, I'll have an hour just resting, to recover. In Spain they all have siestas, even businessmen.”

“Religion is supposed to be a positive thing when you look at the true religions around the world, not the fundamentalists. You always have to go with what your spirit tells you, not what people advise you. I'm a man that will always follow my own path.”

“I kind of focus on my own stuff, really, and then when people come into my territory, I've got to fight them away, and that's what we do every time fight night happens.”

“I still feel I am that 14-year-old kid, hungry and trying to find a way through life. That's what I'm trying to develop, trying to be good at something through boxing. But I feel like that young kid who's trying and trying.”

“I don't have a strict diet; I keep it simple. I try to eat fish, meat, veg and carbs - potatoes and rice - but I'll try and pack it in because as I'm burning so much energy. I have to see food as an energy source.”

“Don't worry about the title. Worry about what you've got to do today, tomorrow, the next day, and that title will be waiting for you.”

“America is the mecca of boxing, and they've had some great champions here. It's good to establish your skills and let people know what you're about in the States.”