Anthony Joshua’s team have come out fighting after the heavyweight superstar was romantically linked to the wife of Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, reports dailymail.co.uk.
Joshua, 30, has reportedly been spotted out and about with 26-year-old Rita, who has two children with Mahrez but is now separated from the footballer.
Reports in the Sun stated that Joshua had ‘been spotted on nights out with Rita’, both in public and at the luxury pad of a mutual friend. Now, addressing the topic, a spokesman for Joshua has vehemently denied the accusation.
“Anthony doesn’t personally know Mrs. Mahrez and has no wish to, now or in future,” AJ’s spokesman told the Sun.
“He’s disappointed that she or people around her have tried to use his name to generate publicity.”Joshua is single after his split from dancer Nicole Osbourne in 2016, who he has a young son with.
Joshua is alleged to have first met Rita in London’s high-end Tape nightclub in December but is reported to have ‘backed away’ from the situation upon learning she was still married to City star Mahrez.
Mahrez, 29, married Rita in a private ceremony with only close family and friends back in August 2015 after the couple had dated for around five months.
The couple are since said to be estranged, and have minimal contact with each other. They left their Cheshire mansion after trying to salvage their four-year marriage. Rita, now single, is said to be living in a £2million mansion in Buckinghamshire.
A club-goer told The Sun in December: ‘Rita bumped into AJ on her way out and he invited her to join him at his table in VIP.“Rita, who was with a female pal, clearly thought AJ was incredibly hot. They then spent much of the evening laughing and flirting.”
The source added that he didn’t have a clue who she was but thought she was a pretty girl. Joshua is the second boxer that Rita has been linked to, with reports emerging earlier this year of the American boxer Deontay Wilder flirting with her at a club in Manchester.