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- Anthony Joshua said he once thought Jay-Z was going to "bust" his head after he asked for a photo.
- The British heavyweight boxer recalled the moment in an interview with William Hill.
- Joshua said he held Jay-Z's wrist to get his attention, prompting the rapper to tell him to let go.
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Anthony Joshua recalled a moment where he thought Grammy award-winning rapper Jay-Z was going to "bust" his head at a movie premiere.
The heavyweight champion appeared in a series of videos for William Hill as he prepares for his next fight against Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk on September 25.
The Daily Mail reported that Joshua told the gambling company about a premiere where he met Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, for the first time.
Mike Blake/Reuters
"'Jay-Z was cool. I was at a Will Smith premiere once, years ago," the boxer began. " It was one of those big staircases and I was in the top left. And I saw Jay-Z walk in…"
He continued: "And in my head, I was like: 'Yo, there's Jay-Z.' Know what I mean? Ready to jump down the balcony. But I thought: 'Play it cool.' So I thought: 'What way is he gonna come up these stairs?' Because if I stand on the left and he goes on the right, there's too many people, it's a premiere. Thank God I stood at the right side. As he come up, I was kind of like [grabs his wrist]: 'Jay, do you mind if I get a picture?' And he kind of looked at my hand, yeah, like: 'Boy, I will bust your head if you don't get off my hand.'"
He added: "But it was just one of those things where I just gave the guy the camera, and in that picture - I think it's one of the first pictures on my Instagram - Jay-Z has just got a plain face. And there's me with a big smile."
The picture was posted in October 2013 and since then, Joshua has posted several photos of himself posing with other celebrities including Cara Delevigne, Dwayne Johnson, Idris Elba, and Dame Judy Dench.