Anthony Joshua wants to be Pele of boxing after meeting the Brazil legend at the GQ Awards
The unified world heavyweight champion aspires to be like football's greatest ever star after bumping into the 76-year-old again
ANTHONY JOSHUA wants to become the Pele of boxing after he met the Brazilian football icon last week at the GQ Awards.
And AJ hopes to follow in Pele’s footsteps by being remembered as a man of the people.
Joshua said: “I definitely want to be like Pele, he’s a lovely guy.
“Take football away and he’s a good person — he connects with everyone.
“Everyone who I saw that met him is in awe of him and he just seems to connect with people easily.”
It was the second time Joshua had chatted with the great man.
He added: “I’m not sure if he’s a boxing fan, but he is a fan of humanity and remembered me from the first time we met.
“The first time I came across him was in a London hotel when one of my friends called me up and said, ‘Pele’s in town, do
you want to meet him?’ You don’t pass up the chance, do you?”
Joshua, 27, became the biggest star in boxing when he stopped Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 people at Wembley in April.
The WBA and IBF champ returns to the ring on October 28 in another huge event when he takes on Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Joshua, with a perfect record of 19 stoppage wins, is planning another early night.
He said: “It is heavyweight boxing, you have to knock someone out.
“It is like with the Klitschko fight, we had to get him out.
“You can’t leave it to the judges, make the decision yourself.”
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