World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has paid tribute to Muhammad Ali who died last week.

 The IBF heavyweight champion, who will defend his title against Dominic Breazeale on Saturday, June 25, said the American boxer inspired him.

Boxing legend Ali died on Friday, June 3 as a result of septic shock due to unspecified natural causes.

But the 26-year-old Watford boxer paid tribute to his hero.

He said: “Ali was a legend of our sport. For me as a kid he inspired me to represent myself like a champion in and out of the ring.”

The boxer has made an explosive start to his career, winning all of his professional fights via knock-out.

Joshua, in an interview with the Evening Standard, said he feared losing everything “I have worked so hard for and being unable to provide for my son’s future.”

In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's diseases attributed to brain injuries caused by his boxing career.

The former Kings Langley Secondary School pupil added: “And secondly, the effect boxing is having on my brain.

“I know if I don’t look after myself I will be talking to you in a couple of years’ time mumbling my words, and slurring.

“It won’t be because I am drunk it will be the fighting, taking blow after blow to the brain. That scares me. I don’t worry about being killed in the ring, it’s losing my mind that I fear.”

Gary Lewis, Joshua’s former headteacher at Kings Langley Secondary School, described the boxer as “a perfect example of determination and sticking at something”.

He added: “Things looked a bit bleak when he left school but he invested lots of effort and turned that around.

“He had a brilliant attitude. He is the perfect role model.”

Joshua realises the danger of boxing. But he said he is focused on winning.

He added: “My coach makes me understand how dangerous this sport is. I try not to think about it. I want to knock my next opponent out, I definitely want him down. But I walk around and people are shouting, ‘AJ knock him out. Knock him out.’

“And it’s weird. Imagine people applauding you for committing a crime. It’s like that for me.

"You really don’t think about the crime until you get caught. If anything ever happened to one of my opponents after I hit them and I caused them injury, I would realise what a serious business this is.”