Joe Joyce has admitted that neither of his parents wanted him to become a boxer.
The 38-year-old is a silver medal winner at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and when he turned professional he was undefeated along the way to claiming the WBO interim heavyweight title.
From there, he lost back-to-back fights against Zhilei Zhang, and there had been speculation that he would retire from the sport given his age.
However he will make a comeback on March 16 when he fights Kash Ali ( live on ESPN+ in the US ) and a win could keep him in the conversation for future high-profile contests.
However, speaking to Yahoo , he said that his path to the sport was not a straightforward one.
He said: “Neither of my parents wanted me to box. Although I was always doing sport, I didn’t expect it to become my profession. Initially, I thought I would become a painter. My dad taught me how to oil-paint when I was seven, and Mum taught me about pottery. I was studying fine art at Middlesex University when I first met Juan, so painting was my passion.
“Boxing was just for fun at the start, but things started to take off very quickly. I met Frank Bruno at one of my first fights. He told me there was a lot of money to be made in boxing so I should keep it up, and I’m glad I did. I ended up getting medals at all the major championships.”
Live on DAZN : Watch William Zepeda vs. Maxi Hughes on March 16