The owner of Anthony Joshua’s local launderette, who the heavyweight champion boxer owes £120 for washing his kit, has revealed he used to give the millionaire boxer financial advice when he was a penniless hopeful.
Muqeem Bakhtari, 32, known locally as Max, said Joshua was still regular at his Launderette in Golders Green, north London, near the ex-council flat where the fighter still lives with his mother.
The 27-year-old Joshua’s victory over two-time world champion, Wladimir Klitschko, in front of 90,000 people at Wembley on Saturday has earned him a whopping £15m, and he says he has not forgotten his unpaid bill.
Bakhtari the washerman said Joshua had been a regular since before winning his Olympic gold medal at London 2012 and his family often stopped by to pick up his laundry.
Mr. Bakhtari said washing the clothes of a boxing champion isn’t easy.
He said: “We look after his clothes extremely well. We don’t want to shrink them.
“We do it low heat because gym clothes do shrink easily; they’re worse than wool.”
Bakhtari said £120 is about two weeks’ worth of washing if you bring a bag in every day, which is what Anthony does when he’s training.
He said: “We’ll see more of his suits and shirts now he’s out the gym. I’m absolutely over the moon for him.
“But I could do with the money now, so hopefully he comes in and pays it off as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Joshua has vowed to become the richest boxer ever, overshadowing Floyd Mayweather’s £540m fortune, after becoming a household name overnight.
Joshua said he hoped to become a millionaire when he first started boxing, but he now hopes to become boxing’s first billionaire.
His promoter, Eddie Hearne, said that Joshua will become bigger than David Beckham, with huge public appeal that goes beyond boxing.
“His commercial potential outside the ring is huge, way beyond Beckham and the world’s top footballers. He has a much bigger cross-over in terms of potential,” Hearne said.
The 27-year-old boxer spent Sunday reconnecting with his mother Yeta Odusanya, 51, and his baby son after several gruelling months of training away.
Speaking following Saturday night’s showdown at Wembley in front of 90,000 people, Joshua admitted his mother had said she was proud of his triumph.
She babysat during the fight and was seen bringing the 18-month-old home to see his father today.
The father-of-one still lives with Yeta and their dog Roxy in a former council flat in north London, which he bought her for £174,000 after turning professional in 2013.
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