How heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is steering dozens of inner city teens away from crime by introducing them to boxing
Teenagers destined for a life of crime say Anthony Joshua has given them new hope by showing personal interest in their fortunes
THREE years ago troubled teenager Fawad Noor was facing a spell behind bars after a childhood spent fighting, stealing and helping to sell crack cocaine.
Then world heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua entered his life, and today 18-year-old Fawad is a reformed character and one of boxing’s brightest prospects.
In an exclusive interview ahead of AJ’s big fight on Saturday, Fawad reveals the man he calls “Josh” is battling to steer dozens of wayward teens like him away from the streets.
AJ, 28, said to be worth more than £40million, will be watched by an estimated 50million people worldwide when he clashes with Russian slugger Alexander Povetkin, 39, at Wembley Stadium next weekend.
But despite the fame and fortune the charismatic star still finds the time to mentor his proteges . . . catching up with them daily on Snapchat.
Fawad told the Sun on Sunday: “Josh knows what our lives are like and he told me he used to get into fights and hustle.
“But he said, ‘If you make £100k from selling stuff on the streets you can’t enjoy that because you can’t buy a car or a house — the taxman will ask you how you got all that money.’
“He also told me, ‘I’m so lucky. What would I be doing now if I hadn’t found boxing?’
“The best advice he has given me is that before I turn pro I need to become a man.
"That means taking care of your family, learning how to look after yourself, being a productive member of society. It means having respect for people.”
This week we were invited to Finchley and District Amateur Boxing Club in North London, where AJ learned the ropes aged 18.
Bosses told how the star still visits the club every week and has spent thousands of pounds on equipment for the wannabe boxers.
AJ spoke recently about working with his old coach Sean Murphy and his mission to help inner city kids involved in drugs and gang violence.
He can relate to them because, when growing up in a tough area of Watford, he was once on probation and wearing an electronic tag for “fighting and other crazy stuff”.
AJ has said: “When I first came here I was on a tag.
"I was getting in trouble. Sean would say, ‘Shut up, stop talking’.
"I would think, ‘Who the f*** is this guy talking to, bruv?’
“I had to learn conduct, structure and manners and I had to represent myself properly if I wanted to be part of this club and not be chucked out.
"I had to leave my attitude at the door and learn the code of conduct.
“I need the boys to know it’s not all about your fists, you’ve got to represent yourself in the best way possible.”
When AJ takes on Povetkin on Saturday, Fawad will be ringside.
He is one of dozens of talented youngsters the champ has quietly taken under his wing.
Fawad, from Barnet, North London, said: “I grew up in the ghetto and it was rough.
"Some of my earliest memories are of seeing people being stabbed and robbed and pregnant women buying crack.
“Since I was seven or eight I wanted to be a drug dealer because it was the guys selling coke and weed that were driving BMWs and wearing nice, designer clothes.
"I was ten when I started getting into that lifestyle. I’d hide crack in my underpants and socks for dealers and I started robbing people.
“Look at me for a second too long and I’d want to beat you up and steal your money and phone.
“I never carried a knife but when I was 14 I messed up another kid so badly that it was worse than being stabbed.
“At the same time I started boxing — I wanted to learn how to defend myself in prison.
"I was given probation and then I met Josh.
"He invited me to one of his fights and it changed my life.
“Seeing Josh box at Wembley was like watching a Rocky film, it was so inspirational.
“Now I train every day and I do my best to stay out of trouble.
"My only focus is on becoming the best boxer in the world”
Fawad works as a plumbing and gas engineer to support his boxing.
But his main goal is to represent Team GB as a super middleweight at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
He said: “I met Josh two years ago when he came to the club and started signing posters.
"At first you are starstruck because he’s this big celebrity, but we chat all the time now and we get along.
“I had more than a thousand fights before I got into boxing.
"There was a time a man stabbed me in the back of the head and his friend hit me with a hammer.
"I was lucky to survive.
“One day me and Josh exchanged Snapchat details so I can message him when I need to.”
Boxer Jesse Brandon, 21, joined the Finchley and District club three years ago.
He said: “Josh was the first person to make me realise I could do something with my life.
“Mike Tyson felt too far away. Josh is just like me.
“I grew up on the Grahame Park estate in North West London and I saw lots of stuff — guns, stabbings, drugs.
"About eight of my friends are in jail and I was stabbed twice during a fight two years ago.
“I stopped boxing after that as I wanted to get revenge but they convinced me to come back and Josh gave me his phone number so I could call him if I needed to.
“He has taught me to respect everyone, whether they are a celebrity or a homeless person.
“He also bought me a £200 pair of gold Everlast boxing gloves and he gives me tips on how to box.
"I train every day and I’ve even become a bit of a role model for other kids on my estate.
"Josh is changing so many lives.
"If we had more people like him, this country would be a much better place.”
Coach Sean Murphy added: “The club sent 12 guys to a training camp in Spain and Anthony paid for half.
"He’s always calling us, asking how he can help.
“He gives us T-shirts, boxing pads and calls me to say, ‘Sean, I’ve got you some gloves and pads’.
"He even bought us a new minibus with a TV and a PlayStation.
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“We’ve got a lot of lads who have had troubles at home or on the streets and Josh always sits down with them when he’s here and talks to them about his experiences.
“He was saying to some of our older lads, recently, ‘I was like you, I nearly went down the wrong path.
"Boxing will help you stay on the straight and narrow, like me.’ ”
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