Nigeria born British world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshuaremains ‘fit and healthy’ despite coming into contact with Prince Charlesonly a couple of weeks before the heir to the throne tested positive for coronavirus.
The champion is following government guidelines around self-isolation but has shown no symptoms of the deadly disease, which threatens to derail his upcoming fight with Kubrat Pulev.
Yesterday, Prince Charles became the most high-profile member of the British establishment to contract coronavirus, with Clarence House announcing that the 71-year-old had been showing mild symptoms ‘but otherwise remains in good health’.
It remains unclear when he caught the illness but on March 9, Prince Charles spent the day with the Queen, prime minister Boris Johnson and stars of sport and entertainment – including Joshua – at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
An official spokesman for Anthony Joshua said: “AJ is at home following government guidlines, he is fit and well. He wishes everyone affected a speedy recovery and a huge thank you to all the front line key workers.”
Joshua is due to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20.
Amid the nationwide lockdown, he is keeping busy at home to remain in shape but with upcoming fights being shelved across the board, AJ’s hopes of meeting fellow Briton Tyson Fury for the undisputed crown face being pushed back to 2021 at the earliest.
The British Boxing Board of Control have already cancelled every show under their jurisdiction until the end of April and a decision will be made next week over the fate of Joshua vs Pulev, with a postponement expected.
As UK’s Sportsmail reported, a contingency date of July 25 has been pencilled in and provisionally agreed between Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and Tottenham, though it remains to be seen if even that option would be possible.
With the Premier League yet to be concluded and no firm plan for its remaining games announced, Tottenham could need their stadium for either of those dates, even if the pandemic has been brought under control.
Hearn is expecting to make a call on the June 20 slot by the end of next week, with Joshua aiming to fight twice this year.
