Anthony Joshua says he gets stopped at customs every time he enters US as he warns ‘you can’t run away from your past’
ANTHONY JOSHUA has warned kids his former life of crime keeps coming back to haunt him every time he tries to enter the USA in a bid to keep them on the straight and narrow.
AJ, 33, got into his fair share of trouble as a youngster and once found himself on remand in Reading prison for “‘fighting and other crazy stuff.”
His world was almost turned upside down in 2011 when he was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug after police found a large amount cannabis in his car.
Joshua avoided jail time by submitting a guilty plea, although his criminal record keeps coming to the fore when he tries to enter the United States.
He said: “A message to the youth: When I was younger…. used to get in trouble.
“I’m telling you, it catches up with you. You can’t run away from your past.
“Every time I step into the USA, they pull me into the US Customs and Border Protection.
“Luckily, certain things with my criminal record aren’t too severe and they don’t stop me from actually entering.
“But every time I enter the USA, they pull me over for questioning and it’s tedious and time-consuming.”
Joshua, 33, has been open about his former life in a bid to steer kids off the wrong path, including his willingness to spend 15 years behind bars when he was on remand.
During an appearance on Apple’s Song for Life, he said: “I feel like I was looking at 15 years.
“I thought I’d do that easy. I would have been out maybe two years ago [2018].
“So I was like, ‘Cool. No problem. If it is guilty, it’s guilty.'”
Joshua knuckled down and focused on boxing after escaping prison time for drug possession, which would’ve derailed what has turned out to be a glittering career.
Recalling the aftermath of his almost life-altering brush with the law, he said: “I done my community service, I got banned from the Olympic team though, which was a tough time.
“I learned how to get smarter, I changed my car, too flash, and that’s why I think now as a boxer I know how to keep low key.
“I learned the art of bouncing back, most important.”
Joshua is set to return to the ring in early March following his defeat in his rematch with unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk in August.
An opponent hasn’t been finalised, although dust-ups with Otto Wallin and Brit rival Dillian Whyte are on the cards.