Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, MBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer with Nigerian ancestry. He is currently a unified world heavyweight champion, having held the IBF title since 2016, and the WBA (Super) and IBO titles since April 2017. He previously held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur he represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division; he also represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning silver.
As of May 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world’s best heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, and second best by The Ring magazine. He also boasts a 100% knockout-to-win ratio. Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so. He is also the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight.
Early life
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. Specifically, he is of Yoruba descent. His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.
Joshua grew up for some of his early years in Nigeria and returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, Joshua was called ‘Femi’ by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name ‘Oluwafemi’. He excelled at football and athletics and broke the Year Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.
Amateur career
A late starter in the sport, Joshua only began boxing in 2007, aged 18, when his cousin suggested he take it up. His club, Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Dereck Chisora. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua won the senior ABA Championships in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down £50,000 to turn professional. “Turning down that £50,000 was easy. I didn’t take up the sport for money, I want to win medals.” He also went on to win the same tournament the following year.
In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Amateur Boxing Championships after defeating Amin Isa. In June 2011 at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships he beat Eric Berechlin and Cathal McMonagle but was stopped by aggressive Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several standing counts. In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain.
Joshua had an amateur record of 40-3.
2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships
During the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning World & Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer, Magomedrasul Majidov winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 91 kg+ division as a relative new-comer to the elite level of the sport.
Amateur highlights
2009 as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Lost to Dillian Whyte (United Kingdom) UD-3
2010 won the ABA National Championships 91 kg+ in Bethnal Green, London as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Defeated Chris Duff (United Kingdom) WO
Defeated Simon Hadden (United Kingdom) WO
Defeated Dominic Winrow (Isle of Man) RSC-1
2010 won the Haringey International Tournament in Haringey, London as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Defeated Otto Wallin (Sweden) PTS
2011 won the ABA National Championships 91 kg+ in Colchester, Essex as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Defeated Fayz Aboadi Abbas (United Kingdom) PTS (24-15)
2011 came 7th in the 39th European Amateur Boxing Championships 91 kg+ in Ankara, Turkey as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Defeated Eric Brechlin (Germany) PTS (23-16)
Defeated Cathal McMonagle (Ireland) PTS (22-10)
Lost to Mihai Nistor (Romania) RSCH-3
2011 came 2nd in the 16th 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships 91 kg+ in Baku, Azerbaijan as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
Defeated Tariq Abdul-Haqq (Trinidad and Tobago) RSCI-3
Defeated Juan Isidro Hiracheta (Mexico) RET-1
Defeated Mohamed Arjaoui (Morocco) PTS (16-7)
Defeated Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) PTS (15-13)
Defeated Erik Pfeiffer (Germany) RSCI-1
Lost to Magomedrasul Medzhidov (Azerbaijan) PTS (22-21)
2012 Super Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medalist as a member of Team GB. His results were:
Defeated Erislandy Savón (Cuba) PTS (17-16)
Defeated Zhang Zhilei (China) PTS (15:11)
Defeated Ivan Dychko (Kazakhstan) PTS (13-11)
Defeated Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) PTS (+18-18)
2012 Olympic Games
Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics as a novice on the international scene, despite being a world silver medalist. He received a tough draw in the last 16 of the super heavyweight event, in Cuban Erislandy Savón, ranked #4 in the world by AIBA and nephew of the three time Olympic champion, Félix Savón. The home boxer battled through three tough rounds in his opening contest before being given the result 17:16. This decision caused some controversy with most observers believing Savon had clearly won the bout whilst a few others taking the view that he had won on merit. In his next bout he fought 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist, Zhang Zhilei dropping his taller opponent in the middle round, Joshua won by 15:11 guaranteeing at least a bronze medal. In the semi-final Joshua met Kazakhstan boxer, Ivan Dychko, but despite Joshua’s height disadvantage he won by 13:11 victory gaining a place in the Olympic final. Joshua met 32-year-old reigning Olympic Champion and former twice World Champion, Roberto Cammarelle of Italy in the closing bout. After conceding the first two rounds (6:5 and 13:10) to Cammarelle, an adversary he had already beaten the previous year, Joshua grew into the fight and fought back to level the scores after the third round (18:18), Joshua was announced winner via count-back and the new Olympic champion. The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, being defined as a “home decision”.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing.
Professional career
Early career
On 11 July 2013 it was confirmed that Joshua had turned professional under the Matchroom Sport promotional banner. Joshua made his professional debut on 5 October 2013 at the O2 Arena in London in the Main-Event of a card featuring Scott Quigg’s successful WBA super-bantamweight title defence against Yoandris Salinas, beating Italian Emanuelue Leo by a TKO in the first round.
Joshua’s second professional fight was against English Heavyweight Paul Butlin at the Motorpoint Arena Sheffield on 26 October 2013. The bout was stopped in the 2nd round when the referee decided Butlin was taking too much punishment and declared Joshua the winner by TKO.
Joshua’s third professional fight was on the Prizefighter Series card against Croatian Hrvoje Kisciek on 14 November 2013. Joshua got a TKO victory in the second round, achieving his third knockout victory in a row.
In February 2014, Joshua scored a 2nd round TKO victory over Dorian Darch to take his record to 4-0. The following month, on the undercard of Ricky Burns against Terence Crawford, Joshua defeated Hector Alfredo Avila with a 1st-round KO, in Glasgow, Scotland. In May that year Joshua knocked out Matt Legg in one round on the undercard of Carl Froch against George Groves in Wembley Stadium. In Joshua’s seventh professional fight, on 12 July 2014, in the Echo Arena, Liverpool, he defeated Englishman Matt Skelton via 2nd round stoppage.
In Anthony Joshua’s eighth professional fight, on 13 September 2014, against German Heavyweight Konstantin Airich, Joshua took his undefeated record to 8-0 with a 3rd round stoppage victory, in the Manchester Arena.
Joshua was in the Main-Event of a Matchroom Sport card for the second time in his career, in his 9th professional appearance for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title against former champion looking to win the title for a second time Denis Bakhtov on 11 October 2014 at The O2 Arena in London. Joshua won the fight by knockout in the second round taking his record to 9-0 and then winning the WBC International Heavyweight Title aged just 24.
In his 10th professional bout, on 22 November 2014, Joshua defeated Michael Sprott within the 1st round to extend his record to 10 wins all by stoppage. Going into this bout as he had 9 bouts all not lasting longer than 3 rounds his total career ring time was just 35 minutes and 10 seconds and after the bout it was just 36 minutes and 36 seconds in 10 bouts as a result of the bout lasting only 1 minute and 26 seconds.
He was supposed to face American boxer Kevin Johnson on 31 January 2015 at The O2 Arena in London, but the bout was cancelled after Joshua sustained a back injury. On 4 April 2015, Joshua beat Jason Gavern as he collected a third-round knockout in his return to the ring in Newcastle. On 9 May 2015, in his 12th professional bout, Joshua defeated Raphael Zumbano Love in a second-round knockout in Birmingham.
On 30 May 2015, Joshua defeated former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (29-6-1, 14 KOs), inflicting the first stoppage in Johnson’s career. After Johnson was saved by the bell in the first round the fight was stopped by the referee shortly after the beginning of the second round. Prior to the fight, Johnson had taken the likes of Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora the 12-round distance. A day after the fight, Johnson announced his retirement, although he made a comeback in March 2017.
British heavyweight champion
On 12 September 2015, Joshua won the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title by stopping Gary Cornish in the first round at the O2 Arena. Cornish had been unbeaten in his previous 21 fights.
Job welldone Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni