Anthony Joshua offered special advice by boxing icon Larry Holmes ahead of title defence against Carlos Takam: ‘Get laid a week before each fight’
So, what’s the secret to becoming a world boxing icon? A strong right hook? A good chin? Maybe even fleetness of foot?
Perhaps it’s a combination of all those things, but two-time world champion Larry Holmes believes a little something extra outside the ring or the gym can be the key to getting to the top.
Ahead of Anthony Joshua‘s title defence against Carlos Takam at the Principality Stadium this Saturday, former WBC and IBF heavyweight king Holmes offered the Brit some unconventional, and candid, advice.
‘If I had to give him one piece of advice it would be this — get laid a week before each fight,’ The 67-year-old told The Sun.
‘You need to relax. It restores your energy and everything.
‘He’s a heavyweight, he’s got to get that s**t out of him. But he doesn’t want to do it every day or nothing because that might drain him!’
Many boxers rule out sex before fights, believing it to affect performance.
Joshua’s compatriot David Haye bans sex six weeks before a fight while Carl Froch didn’t use to allow it for up to three months before a bout.
And Holmes has revealed he used to follow that advice, until he realised he was ‘missing the good stuff’.
‘They say you’re not allowed to do it when you’re fighting,’ Holmes added.
‘I listened for a while but then found out it was all a lie and you’re missing the good stuff man.’
Joshua became the IBF and WBA heavyweight king after he felled Wladimir Klitschko in April and Holmes is already a massive fan of the Watford bruiser — even believing the 27-year-old would have ‘knocked out a prime Mike Tyson’ back in the day.
Although Takam is no Tyson, Joshua is huge favourite to retain his title in the Cardiff showdown this weekend.
