Claim: Anthony Joshua accidentally confessed to committing robbery during a recent interview.

Recently, ahead of his big return against Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia later this month, Anthony Joshua appeared in an interview with DAZN, where he supposedly admitted to committing robbery earlier in his life. An X account named @GreatBritishMC shared the former unified heavyweight champion’s conversation with the interviewer and claimed in the caption that AJ had a slip-up during the interview.

“Anthony Joshua had a surprising slip-up during an interview, seemingly breaking character as he referenced his past and spoke about riding out with firearms to commit robberies 😳,” GBMC wrote on X.

When it comes to his past, the British boxer has never shied away from discussing the hardships he faced growing up in Watford. As such, Joshua has admitted on multiple occasions that he drifted away from a conventional lifestyle, indulging in mar—a, getting involved in street fights, and being in a gang.

As a result, many believed Anthony Joshua might have opened up for the first time about taking part in an armed robbery during those troubled teen years. But did he actually admit to committing such a crime? Or were his words taken out of context?

Verdict: False   

During the interview with DAZN, the host asked Anthony Joshua about his favorite “drill,” which the heavyweight boxer misunderstood and responded to with a completely different answer that left the host visibly surprised.

“When we ride out four man deep, four shotties in the back,” Joshua said. “You know what I’m saying, when we were going out just to do a little robbery. That’s a drill, right?”

This statement by Joshua is what gave rise to the claim. At first glance, the admission appears surprising, especially since there are no reports of the British boxer ever being involved in an armed robbery. However, on closer inspection, it becomes clearer that by “drill,” AJ was referring to the rap genre that he enjoys.

Drill is a subgenre of rap that centers around gang rivalries and street life, which reportedly originated in Chicago and later gained popularity in the UK. In fact, Anthony Joshua has previously revealed in an interview with Complex UK that one of his favorite musical artists is Digga D, a renowned UK drill rapper. He is such a fan of the genre that he frequently showcases his freestyle skills and even engages in impromptu rap battles. This should help clarify what he actually meant to say in the interview.

After Joshua’s response, the DAZN host also appeared confused and quickly rephrased the question, asking him about his favorite “training drill,” to which Joshua simply replied, “Sparring.”

It’s clear AJ wasn’t confessing to a real robbery. However, there have been combat sports athletes who have done that in the past. Former UFC middleweight Lee Murray was famously involved in the 2006 Securitas cash depot robbery in Tonbridge, England, where his gang reportedly stole a staggering £53 million (approximately $70 million), which made it the largest peacetime cash heist in British history. As a result, Murray was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Morocco, a country to which he had fled.

While Anthony Joshua has never been involved in such a crime, he has certainly found himself on the receiving end.

Thieves stole Anthony Joshua’s expensive car

Back in September 2017, Anthony Joshua reportedly received a customized Range Rover, said to be worth around £150,000, ahead of his heavyweight title fight against Alexander Povetkin. However, the British fighter’s prized possession was reportedly stolen a year later, in September 2018.

According to reports, Joshua had traveled to Sheffield for training ahead of his fight when a thief allegedly stole the SUV from the driveway of a relative’s home. Authorities have reportedly never recovered the stolen vehicle.

Later, another unfortunate incident followed when the heavyweight boxer was involved in a car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his friends. While the Nigerian authorities were attending to Joshua, who survived the accident, a bystander reportedly stole his phone amid the chaos.

That said, Anthony Joshua’s case once again proves that words can easily be taken out of context and twisted to imply something that never actually happened. So, it’s always important to maintain caution before taking such claims at face value.