07 November 2023 , 17:43
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Anthony Joshua's love life has piqued fans' interest after the British heavyweight boxer was brutally turned down by Laura Woods during a cheeky flirtation.
The 34-year-old is currently single and focusing heavily on work, having secured his first win since 2020 after beating Jermaine Franklin in April.
Speaking to talkSPORTS presenter Laura Woods after the victory, he didn't hold back when it came to swooning the 36-year-old. When she asked how he would rate her career, Anthony suavely replied, "I think it's blossomed amazingly, just like you." Taking the cheesy one-liner on the chin, Laura joking asked the Watford native how many times he'd been hit on the head in the past.
Anthony again tried some moves on Laura later in the interview, when asked to name his dream date. Without missing a beat, the athlete replied, 'You', prompting Woods to punch the air in feigned triumph and exclaim, "This is perfect!"
AJ also made a light-hearted comment about Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the Chelsea midfielder who recently named Woods as his crush in a talkSPORT interview, saying he'd 'beaten him to it'.
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Anthony was rejected by Laura after he called the TV presenter his 'dream date' (iFLTV/Youtube)In a previous interview back in April, Laura admitted that she was too busy with her career to start dating after Anthony Joshua asked her about her love life.
"Are you in a relationship?" he asked, to which she replied: "I'm not in a relationship, are you?" She then explained that she was, "too focused on work", to be committed to a partner, to which AJ agreed: "Um, yeah."
"With boxing, I feel I never wanted to commit because I didn't want to go training and I'm busy arguing with my missus or something and my head's not in the game," he continued, to which Laura said, "We've got so much in common!"
In 2020, Joshua admitted it'd be nice to 'have someone' after being single 'for a while', but struggled to find the time for a relationship due to his gruelling training schedule. "I think you can date and still be a successful sportsman but it's hard to find a balance and I would have to compromise - which I've not felt able to do," he admitted.
Sitting down with Louis Theroux on Tuesday, Anthony told the esteemed journalist why he still lives at home with his mother in North London. Born to Nigerian parents Yeta and Robert Joshua, the 34-year-old is passionate about upholding the family values of his culture and has no plans to move away from his loved ones any time soon.
Anthony opened up to Louis Theroux on a new episode of Louis Theroux Interviews (BBC/Mindhouse Productions/Ryan McNamara)'I still live with my mum. In our culture, we grew up in our own family home, we support our parents," he said. "Why am I going to move out and leave my mum by herself, for some girl? Family is the most important thing." AJ also explained that any future wife of his will become an integral part of his tightknit family.
'When a girl gets with me, she ain't just marrying me, she's marrying my family," he added. The heavyweight campion was previously in an on-off relationship with former school pal Nicole Osbourne, with whom he shares a son named Joseph.
AJ has since revealed he wouldn't want the eight-year-old to following in his boxing footsteps over concerns of the risks involved in the sport.
"No it’s too hard. It’s a dangerous sport. I want my son to be the best man that he can be, but I don’t want him to be compared to me," he explained. "You’re not going to be a boxing star without going through heaps of pain."
In August 2017, rumours spread that Anthony Joshua was romantically linked with Fayral Makhdoom Khan, the ex-wife of boxing champion Amir Khan. They married in New York City in 2013, before becoming the proud parents to two daughters.
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Amir Khan with his wife Faryal Makhdoom (Instagram)"Faryal moved on quick. Always mentioned to me how much she wanted to be with another guy, from all people another boxer," Amir tweeted, before tagging Anthony Joshua in the post that included an alleged screenshot of his rival's text message communication with Fayral. Anthony was quick to shut down the accusation however, insisting he and the Pakistani YouTube star hadn't even been introduced to each other.
"Bantz aside, I hope you guys can resolve your situation or this is a hack as we have never even met! Plus I like my women BBW," he said.
Just three months later, Amir confirmed that he and Faryral had reconciled, and in May 2023, the pair marked their 10 year anniversary by posting a sweet photo of them on Instagram.