Craig 'Spider' Richards fights at Anthony Joshua's media workout, so let's find out more about him

If you come across someone throwing punches at thin air in a south London supermarket, fear not; it's probably just Craig 'Spider' Richards rehearsing combinations.

Standing an imposing 6'3", the 26-year-old made a relatively late move in the paid ranks but announced himself in some style; taking less than a minute to blast aside James Child on debut.

Two more victories later, and Richards has a substantial stage for the first time; he'll join fast-rising English lightweight champion Ohara Davies in fighting at the Joshua v Breazeale media workout at east London's York Hall on Tuesday, June 21 - and Sky Sports will be there to stream the action live from 5pm.

As he prepares to take on the experienced Richard Horton, who's been in with the likes of Callum Johnson, Tony Dodson and Miles Shinkwin, Isaac Robinson caught up with Richards to learn more.

Tell us a bit about where you're from...

I'm from south London, the Lewisham borough. I used to live there and I went to primary school in Penge but I grew up in Lewisham. Growing up at that time, everything was gang-cultured and you couldn't really avoid it. You had to fit in with a team, otherwise you'd be a victim. You needed a solid group of friends who had your back so you could defend yourself.

It sounds like the classic tale of boxing providing an alternative path to the one that leads to trouble. Is that fair?

Not quite. It wasn't that I decided to go boxing to get out of a life of crime; I ended up going boxing because I just enjoyed it. I never thought it was going to be a career but it was something I was good at. I had a strong passion but when I was young, I didn't realise that the passion I had was enough to make something of it.

As I got older, I realised it was something I was willing to give up everything for. In the area where we grew up, I saw a lot of people going to prison or die. I knew it wasn't where I wanted to end up. In my head, I always had a plan that eventually I was going to go to university and become an accountant. I never thought that was the end of the road and I wanted to be one of the smart ones. Little did I know, it'd be boxing that took over.

How did it initially dawn on you that you had talent?

In street fights, the same little left hook a boxer uses to tee up a power shot was putting them down. I'm waiting to use my right hand and they're already gone. It was about timing.

So when did you first actually box?

I always wanted to try it, but my Mum wouldn't let me go at first. Then my cousin, who I used to hang around with, was going and I went along with him. He ended up stopping boxing and I carried on going. The club was South Norwood & Victory ABC. I was there for a while and I left.

Then I got side-tracked for a while and when I went back, I went to Lynn Athletic Boxing Club. My amateur coach Terry Palmer used to tell me I was talented, but I didn't believe him. Then he said me and anyone I brought with me could come free of charge and use the brand new equipment, and he'd drop me home because I was going to be a champion one day. He drove me to take it more seriously and my loyalty was with him, even when he left to start his own club.

What can you remember of those early days?

When I was 20, I broke my foot. Terry told me that it looked like it was bothering me and told me to go the hospital. It was about a month before I was due to fight and I told him it was just a bruise on the muscle. He said he wouldn't let me fight unless I checked it out.

I went to the hospital and they looked at the X-ray and told me it was broken with a chip in it. I never told him, got rid of the cast a couple of days later, trained and boxed. I got Fighter of the Night and a few days later, my cousin rang me and told me I was in the newspaper; the South London Press. That got me more excited about boxing.

How did your amateur career go?

I was going to go the Box Cup but they wanted to fly me to Gibraltar to fight another unbeaten fighter. A week before the Box Cup, the Gibraltar show got cancelled and I was left gutted. I didn't worry too long though, and soon won the South London, London titles. In the national finals, I beat a kid so easily and they robbed me on a split decision in the final. That was disheartening, to see the politics of amateur boxing.

I turned Elite quite quickly because I couldn't get a fight otherwise. I boxed Josh Buatsi, who's off to the Rio Olympics this year and he'd already won national titles by then. He beat me on points. I went on to win a gold medal at the Haringey Box Cup and got Fighter of the Tournament. I picked up a sponsor at that tournament.

What's your trademark shot?

In the amateurs, I used to use a lot of check left hooks. People started knowing me for it, so I had to stop doing it so much. You can disguise it to an extent before I had to put it away for a while or it would have become predictable.

Any weaknesses you're working on at the moment?

There are two. The first one has been out of my hands and it's about not being active enough. Hopefully after this fight with Horton is streamed on the Sky Sports platforms, I'll be away and can fight more and more.

My old weakness was over-training. I never knew when to rest. People were telling me that rest was as important as training. I used to go from gym to gym each day just training, but I've learned to balance it now.

Who's your best friend in boxing?

Ohara Davies is one of my closest friends in boxing. I met him years ago at the Peacock Gym. We were all training and sparring and from then, we just clicked.

What's your worst habit?

Boxing in the wrong places. I do it everywhere I go. I box when I'm walking down the street. My sisters can't stand it. They turn around and shout: 'Do you ever stop?!'

I do it in the supermarket too. I'm walking down the aisle throwing shots and nobody I'm with wants to walk near me.

Who's your dream date?

That's so tough these days. It used to be Alicia Keys. When I was younger, I really thought she was perfect but I'm not so sure a few years on. Alicia, if you're reading, I'm sorry but it's over...

I think I'm on the hunt for a new dream date; waiting for someone to catch my eye.

We will be streaming Tuesday's media workout plus Richards v Horton and Davies v Szabo at York Hall live from 5pm at skysports.com/joshua.