More like Sock-a-fella records.
Heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua might not seem like he receives a lot of threats. However, the two-time heavyweight champion recalled a time when he thought Jay-Z was going to smack him at a film premiere, the Daily Mail reported. The 31-year-old power puncher dropped the bombshell while talking to William Hill Boxing ahead of his championship bout this weekend.
“Jay-Z was cool,” the UK brawler described of the unexpected incident, which occurred back in 2013 while the two were at the premiere of an unspecified Will Smith movie.
Having grown up listening to the rap icon’s music — including hits such as “Hard Knock Life” and “Dead Presidents” — Joshua was stoked about the chance to meet his idol, he explained.
Anthony Joshua (right) with Drake.
“It was one of those big staircases and I was in the top left. And I saw Jay-Z walk in,” the pugilist said painting the scene.
“In my head, I was like: ‘Yo, there’s Jay-Z.’ Know what I mean? Ready to jump down the balcony,” recalled the star-struck fighter. “But I thought: ‘Play it cool.’ So I thought: ‘What way is he gonna come up these stairs?’ Because if I stand on the left and he goes on right, there’s too many people, it’s a premiere.”
Thankfully, the decorated boxer stood at the correct side of the staircase. When Hov walked up, he reportedly grabbed his wrist and asked, “Jay, do you mind if I get a picture?”
“And he kind of looked at my hand, yeah, like: ‘Boy, I will bust your head if you don’t get off my hand,’” the 2012 gold medalist recalled.
Joshua and Judi Dench.
Despite the kerfuffle, Joshua ended up getting his photo-op with the “Roc-a-fella Records” honcho. “It was just one of those things where I just gave the guy the camera, and in that picture — I think it’s one of the first pictures on my Instagram — Jay-Z has just got a plain face,” he fondly recounted. “And there’s me with a big smile.”
Joshua will defend his heavyweight belts against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk this Saturday in London with the hopes that a win would will earn him a shot at the winner of Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III, Sky Sports reported.
Joshua and Tom Hanks.