BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs 10 things we learned from ...

7. Five days in a dark room taught him what’s important

Unsurprisingly, Anthony doesn’t like losing. “I’ve actually broken down when I’ve lost before,” he says. “It’s tough… There are options [when you lose]: keep it the same, completely change, or add to what you have. I add to what I have.” As part of his process for building and understanding himself better, Anthony has employed some unusual methods, including spending five days in a pitch-black room.

“It’s that dark that you can’t see anything. Going into that dark room gave me a bit of time where I could switch off… It was good!” It made him consider what matters to him. “I don’t have enough meaningful conversations with my family… When I was in that dark room, there was that feeling where... I just need to have more meaningful conversation, spend a bit more time with my mum, my dad, my aunt and uncles and sister… It brought home what’s important.”

8. He wants to help older retired boxers

“None of us fighters talk about our health,” he says. “We can notice in fighters when their health is deteriorating, but we never talk about it… All we focus on is winning.” He’s aware that while some boxers reach the end of their careers both healthy and very wealthy, others face many problems, so he’d like to open “a care home for retired boxers if they have bad health… That will be part of my legacy, that I gave something back to the sport that made me.”

9. At home, he’s just ‘dad’

Family is the most important thing to Anthony. He even chooses the theme to The Godfather as a representation of his commitment to family. He has a young son and says when he’s at home he’s no longer the world champion the public sees.

“I’ve always kept boxing out,” he says. “I’m [his] dad. I’m not the boxer. With mum, I’m your son, not the boxer. With my sister, I’m your brother, not the boxer. I’ve always kept it separate. He gets that I fight, but I’m just dad.”

10. He’s not intimidated by life alone on a desert island

“When you’re preparing for a fight, a big part of it is isolation,” he says. “You go to training camp, which means you isolate yourself from family and friends… You’re getting ready for battle and being victorious. Being on a desert island, there is an element of preparing for battle. There’s the element of survival, but the second thing is being alone… I think I’d be pretty comfortable.”

He's also had some experience of fending for himself, having appeared on a TV show with survival expert Bear Grylls. “I thought the show might be fake, that we’d climb a mountain, then go get a McDonalds and stay in a hotel. But I stayed out in the wilderness, I ate a maggot, I jumped in the sea, and I questioned my life at some stage!” He, of course, chooses a Bear Grylls book to take with him.