Listening to the Words of Sugar Ray Leonard

One of the accusations levelled at Anthony Joshua ahead of the fight with Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday night, at Wembley Stadium, was that he couldn?t take a punch.

After all here was a boxer that had been wobbled by Dillian Whyte in their grudge match, what would happened when he was caught several times by a big puncher.

Well on Saturday that moment arrived in the sixth round when a punch caught him flush on the chin and down he went.

But Joshua did recover, his doggedness to stick in there brought him through the darkest moments in his professional career.

When asked, by the media, about the knockdown Joshua replied,

?I definitely didn?t think I was beaten, I was just tired man.

?You get knocked down eight times, you get up eight times, that?s what life?s about.

?It just shows that if you keep on going, you come out on top and not just in a fight. That?s what life is about. You keep on going no matter how many times you are put down.?

Continuing, Anthony recalled some words from the great Sugar Ray Leonard, with Anthony continuing,

?I remember Sugar Ray Leonard said that for all the skill you may have, there are times when you have to show character.

?And without that character and ability to go into the trenches, you?re never going to do great things in the sport. I don?t want to crumble.

?I will do whatever I need to, to come out on top.?

Anthony Joshua may have been a late starter in the sport we all love but in the short time he?s been fighting he?s come on leaps and bounds and is always willing to listen and learn, that is the mark of a great champion in the making.