WORLD heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could have been knocking teams out of the FA Cup instead of boxers in the ring, according to childhood friend and Maidenhead United midfielder James Mulley.
The boxer, commonly known as AJ, has stopped his opponents in all 17 of his professional fights since winning Olympic gold at London 2012, only going past three rounds on two occasions.
But it could have been all so different for the world champ with Mulley, who turned 28 last Friday, believing Joshua could have starred under the floodlights of the football pitch as well as the spotlights of the O2.
Humble
Mulley told The NLP: “We’ve been mates for a while now, since we were about 15. We used to play football together – he was a big centre half or a big centre forward based on how he felt. He was always taller but nowhere near as filled out as he is now.
“He was a good player. I think he could have gone far but he was a bit in and out with it. We would meet up in the summer and go to football camp together. That was in Mill Hill, north-west London, and that’s where we met.
“I look at what it takes to be a top footballer and then compare it to what it takes to be a world champion boxer; footballers have it easy for sure. AJ does three sessions a day and it’s brutal. Not every boxer does it, and he doesn’t need to work as hard as he does, but he does it so he can be the best.”
Mulley is also set on being the best, aiming to lift the National League South title this season his goal having been promoted twice via the play-offs in his career with AFC Wimbledon and Hayes & Yeading.
His Magpies team are on top of the table having lost only one of their first 12 league matches this year, with Mulley twice finding the net.
And the ex-Braintree man added: “It’s been a great start. Everyone is positive and buzzing. We are going for it, that’s for sure.
“I’d love to be a champion. I’ve never won a league. I’ve got two promotions through the play-offs with Hayes and Wimbledon but it would be great to be number one in the league.”
One man who is a champion is 26-year-old Joshua. But while the 6ft 6ins star puts people on the canvas, he doesn’t take control when with his friends, despite his monumental frame suggesting he could quite simply do what he likes.
Mulley added: “We’ve got a tight circle of friends and went on holiday together. He’s the biggest out of us but he’s not the oldest! He’s the biggest little brother around and he’s so humble just in general. People will think he bosses us about but we don’t let him!
Mentality
“He still lives at home with his mum, when not at training camps, but that’s his mentality. His boxing is just his job and he is focused on that.
“Maybe he will get this fight out the way and then look at moving out, but right now he is focused on his next fight.”
But with the world heavyweight pushing him all the way, Mulley will hope to lift the trophy over his head at York Road come April.
The former Don continued: “We train together and it keeps me fit too because his training involves everything.
“Everyone in our group is fit and strong. We are all athletes in our own way. I did a camp with him last summer, and I think I surprised AJ with my fitness. He was just getting back into it and I’d had a full season.
“At his peak, when he’s approaching a fight, his fitness levels are frightening. It’s good to be around that.”
