The heavyweight champ has revealed he wouldn’t want his son following in his “crazy” footsteps

Anthony Joshua has admitted he hopes his son will not follow in his footsteps and enter the ring.

Asked if he would want 19-month-old Joseph to become a professional boxer, the world heavyweight champ replied: “I swear I wouldn’t want him to be.

“This ain’t a job, it’s crazy. Do you know the amount of pain that we go through? I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“You shouldn’t look at it as a career straight away because it’s very, very, hard. So with him, I’d say, ‘Set off on your own path whether it is ­business, studying, sports… but I want him to be better than me in anything he does.”

Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko in front of a 90,000 strong crowd at Wembley ( Image: PA)

The WBA, IBF and IBO champ, 27, banked an ­estimated £15million for beating Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley last month. And he earned global respect for refusing to indulge in trash talk before the brutal bout.

But speaking to ex-snooker pro Willie Thorne, in front of an audience at the London Palladium, Anthony admitted he swore at his Ukrainian ­opponent before stopping him in the 11th round. He said: “I said, ‘If you let me through this next round I’m gonna knock you the eff out’.

“I swear I said to him how I felt and what I was actually going to do and then the next minute I felt a five-punch combination coming.”

Anthony is now said to be thinking of moving out of the ex-council flat he shares with mum Yeta Odusanya in North London, after reportedly falling in love with a £27million mansion in posh St John’s Wood.

But his rags to riches story might never have happened as he almost quit due to tough training for the London 2012 Olympics, where he won gold.

He laughed: “I was like, ‘Forget this­ ­Olympics stuff. I’ve had contracts to turn pro. Why am I going to stick with it?’ “The coaches were like, ‘No, trust me’. It was tough but I thought, ‘Let me stick with it.’”

The 6ft 6in boxer – reportedly single after splitting from on-off girlfriend Nicole Osbourne, 27 – was also asked on behalf of his many female fans if he is all in proportion. He quipped: “My hands match my feet, yeah.”