| Anthony Joshua |
|---|
Joshua in September 2012
|
| Statistics |
|---|
| Real name | Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua |
|---|
| Nickname(s) | AJ |
|---|
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
|---|
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
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| Reach | 82 in (208 cm) |
|---|
| Nationality | British |
|---|
| Born | 15 October 1989 (age 27)
Watford, Hertfordshire,
England |
|---|
| Stance | Orthodox |
|---|
| Boxing record |
|---|
| Total fights | 19 |
|---|
| Wins | 19 |
|---|
| Wins by KO | 19 |
|---|
| Losses | 0 |
|---|
| Website | Official website |
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|---|
As of May 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world's best heavyweight by the
Transnational Boxing Rankings Board[1] and
BoxRec,
[2] and second best by
The Ring.
[3] His
knockout-to-win ratio stands at 100%. 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[edit]
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born in
Watford to a
Nigerian mother Yeta Odusanya and a
British father Robert
[4][5]of Nigerian and
Irish descent.
[6][7] Specifically, he is of
Yoruba descent.
[8] His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.
[9]
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.
[10][11]
Amateur career[edit]
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.
[12] 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.
[13]
2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships[edit]
Amateur highlights[edit]
- 2009 as a Super Heavyweight. Results were:
- 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:
2012 Olympic Games[edit]
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
[14] whilst a few others taking the view that he had won on merit.
[15] 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.
[16] The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, being defined as a "home decision".
[17]
Professional career[edit]
Early career[edit]
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.
[21]
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.
[2]
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 againstGeorge 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.
[2]
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.
[22]
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.
[23]
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.
[24] 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.
[25][26]
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.
[27][28] A day after the fight, Johnson announced his retirement, although he made a comeback in March 2017.
[29][30]
British heavyweight champion[edit]
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.
[31]
Joshua vs. Whyte[edit]
Joshua fought
Dillian Whyte in a grudge match for the vacant British heavyweight title on 12 December 2015, whilst also defending his Commonwealth heavyweight title for the first time. The fight took place on Sky Box Office.
[32] The two had previously fought within the amateur rankings in 2009 where Whyte had won. After surviving the first scare of his career in the second round, Joshua won the fight after initially shaking Whyte with a right hook to the temple and eventually finishing with a devastating uppercut for the knockout in the seventh round, making it the furthest distance either fighter has gone in a professional fight to date.
[33][34] It is said that Joshua earned £3 million for this fight alone, as a result of signing a new 5-year deal with Matchroom which sees him take a share of the PPV revenue earned.
[35]
IBF heavyweight champion[edit]
Joshua vs. Martin[edit]
In February 2016, it was announced that Joshua would face IBF heavyweight champion
Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) on 9 April 2016 at the O2 Arena. Martin was making the first defence of the belt that he won in January after defeating
Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant title in January 2016.
[36][37] Joshua set the pace in the first round and kept the southpaw Martin at bay before sending him to the canvas with a straight right hand in the second round. Martin got to his feet only to be knocked down for a second time by a similar punch just moments later. This time Martin failed to beat the count after taking too long to get up, and the referee waved the fight off, with Joshua winning his first world title.
[38]
Martin was heavily criticized for his performance, and apparent lack of ambition to win the fight. Observers accused him of quitting early, feeling that he could have got up quicker and fought on.
[39][40] Martin later placed the blame on the pre-fight distractions, claiming that he was 'mentally not there'.
[41] At just 85 days, Martin's reign as IBF heavyweight champion was the second shortest in professional boxing history, with only
Tony Tucker's 1987 reign being shorter.
Joshua vs. Breazeale[edit]
Promoter Eddie Hearn announced a 3-man shortlist from IBF's top ranking 15 boxers for Joshua's first defence of his title. This included former WBC heavyweight champion
Bermane Stiverne (25-1-2, 21 KOs) and
Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs), both of whom were recently beaten by American WBC champion
Deontay Wilder, alongside unbeaten upcoming fighter
Dominic Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs). On 25 April, it was announced that Joshua's next fight will be against Dominic Breazeale on 25 June 2016 at the O2 Arena in London. Breazeale was ranked 13th by IBF below British pair
Derek Chisora and
David Haye.
[42] Breazeale became only the second boxer, after
Dillian Whyte, to take Joshua past 3 rounds. After a dominant performance, Joshua successfully defended his IBF heavyweight title with a magnificent seventh-round knockout win. Breazeale was dropped heavily by a huge left hand.
[43] After the fight, Eddie Hearn said Joshua could next fight IBF mandatory
Joseph Parker, around November.
[44] That fight averaged 289,000 viewers on
Showtime in the afternoon. The card averaged 227,000 viewers.
[45]
A week after the fight was announced against Breazeale, Joshua announced a new multi-fight deal with U.S. broadcaster
Showtime. The fight screened live in the States by Showtime after they signed up as Joshua's exclusive U.S. partner.
[46]
Joshua vs. Molina[edit]
It was announced in August that Joshua would be making a second defence of his IBF title at the
Manchester Arena in Manchester on 26 November. This would mark the first time since September 2014 that Joshua would be fighting in the city. Possible names put forward for the fight were top IBF contenders
Kubrat Pulev and
Joseph Parker.
[47][48] Former unified heavyweight champion
Wladimir Klitschko became the frontrunner after his scheduled rematch with Tyson Fury was cancelled a second time.
[49][50]
A deal could not be finalized for Joshua vs. Klitschko, due to the
WBA delaying a decision to sanction the fight and Klitschko injuring himself, which put the fight off completely.
[51] Klitschko said he would be looking to fight Joshua in the first quarter of 2017.
[52] Bryant Jennings and
David Price were the names being pushed forward to fight Joshua next, however it was announced Joshua would be fighting at the Manchester Arena defending his world title against former world title challenger
Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs), who was coming off a stoppage victory against
Tomasz Adamek, although being behind on the official scorecards. The fight was televised in the United States live on Showtime.
[53][54] After two one sided rounds, which saw Molina hardly throw anything, Joshua knocked Molina out in the third round.
[55] According to Nielsen Media Research, the fight peaked at 390,000 on Showtime, with an average viewing of 368,000 viewers.
[56]
Unified heavyweight champion[edit]
Joshua vs. Klitschko[edit]
On 2 November 2016, the WBA finally agreed to sanction a unification bout between Joshua and Klitschko for the WBA 'super' title. The WBA agreement was, if Joshua retained his belt against Molina the fight would take place on 29 April 2017 at
Wembley Stadium in London.
[57][58][59]
On 10 December 2016, Joshua knocked out Molina in the third round and the Joshua vs. Klitschko fight was officially announced.
[55] WBA president Gilberto J. Mendoza confirmed that the winner will have to face mandatory challenger
Luis Ortiz next, with deadlines due to be set after the unification fight.
[60][61] A day later the IBF announced the winner must fight their mandatory challenger
Kubrat Pulev. Because of this clashing with the WBA enforcing their mandatory, it was believed that either Joshua or Klitschko would have to vacate a title.
[62] In January 2017, Eddie Hearn announced that over 80,000 tickets had been sold, a new box office record, overtaking
Carl Froch vs. George Groves II. He put a request in for 5,000 more tickets to be made available.
[63][64] It was reported that Joshua would earn in the region of £15 million for the fight.
[65]At the weigh-in, Klitschko weighed in at 240 and a quarter pounds, the lightest he has weighed since 2009. Joshua came in heavier at 250 pounds.
[66]
In front of a post-war record crowd of 90,000 in attendance, Joshua won by TKO in a high-drama war that saw both men giving their all. They fought a close and cautious first four rounds. In the fifth, Joshua came out roaring and barraged Klitschko to the canvas. An angry Klitschko rose up and dominated Joshua for the remainder of the round, battering him and scoring his own knockdown in round 6. The next few rounds were again cautious, both men wary of each other, until a reinvigorated Joshua attacked Klitschko in round 11, sending him to the canvas. Klitschko again rose but Joshua knocked him down for a second time in the round, then sent a barrage of punches while Klitschko was against the ropes that made the referee stop the fight.
[67][68]
At the time of stoppage, Joshua was ahead on two judges scorecards (96–93 and 95–93) and the third judge had Klitschko ahead (95–93). CompuBox stats showed that Joshua landed 107 of his 355 punches thrown (30%), and Klitschko landed 94 of 256 (37%).
[69] Joshua called out Fury in the post fight interview, "Tyson Fury, where you at, baby? Come on -- that's what they want to see. I just want to fight everyone. I'm really enjoying this right now."
[70] In the press conference after the fight, Joshua said he would have no issues with having another fight with Klitschko, "I don't mind fighting him again, if he wants the rematch. Big respect to Wladimir for challenging the young lions of the division. It’s up to him, I don’t mind. As long as Rob thinks it’s good I'm good to go." Eddie Hearn said Joshua's next fight would likely take place at the end of the year, possibly at the
Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
[71][72]
The fight averaged 659,000 viewers on Showtime in the United States. It was shown live and the fight began around 5 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. PT.
Nielsen Media Research revealed the fight peaked at 687,000 viewers which was during rounds five and six. This was an increase from Joshua's previous Showtime numbers that aired live during the late afternoon.
[73] The delayed tape-replay on
HBO was watched by an average 738,000 viewers and peaked at 890,000.
[74][75] In a press release, German TV channel
RTL announced the fight was watched by an average 10.43 million viewers. The whole card averaged 9.59 million viewers. This was higher than the 8.91 million that tuned in to watch
Klitschko vs. Fury in 2015.
[76]
On 7 June 2017, the IBF granted Joshua an exception for him to rematch Klitschko instead of fighting mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. At this point, it was not said that the rematch would take place. Klitschko said he needed time to review his situation before agreeing to a rematch. It was only weeks after the fight, when Eddie Hearn filed the paperwork to the IBF to request the exception to the mandatory defense. IBF explained that the rematch must take place no later than 2 December 2017 and the winner must fight Pulev next with no exceptions.
[77]
Joshua vs. TBA[edit]
On 2 August, Joshua revealed he would need to start a three month training camp on 22 August, if he was to fight on 11 November, therefore hoping a fight with Klitschko would be finalised by then.
[78] On 3 August 2017, Klitschko announced on his website and social media channels that he was retiring from boxing.
[79][80]
On 4 August, upon learning that Klitschko had retired, the IBF immediately ordered Joshua and Kubrat Pulev to fight next, with a deal needing to be reached by 3 September 2017.
[81] The WBA then ordered Joshua to make his mandatory defence against their top ranked fighter Luis Ortiz, giving them 30 days to reach a deal.
[82] Accoring to Hearn, the plan going forward was to fight Pulev next, following by Ortiz and then a potential unification fight against
Deontay Wilder.
[83]
Professional boxing record[edit]
| Professional record summary | [hide] |
|---|
| 19 fights | 19 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 19 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|
| 19 | Win | 19–0 |  Wladimir Klitschko | TKO | 11 (12),2:25 | 29 Apr 2017 |  Wembley Stadium, London, England | Retained IBF heavyweight title;
Won vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 |  Éric Molina | TKO | 3 (12),2:02 | 10 Dec 2016 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | Retained IBF heavyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Dominic Breazeale | TKO | 7 (12),1:01 | 25 Jun 2016 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained IBF heavyweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Charles Martin | KO | 2 (12),1:32 | 9 Apr 2016 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Won IBF heavyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Dillian Whyte | KO | 7 (12),1:27 | 12 Dec 2015 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained WBC International and Commonwealth heavyweight titles;
Won vacant British heavyweight title |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Gary Cornish | TKO | 1 (12),1:37 | 12 Sep 2015 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained WBC International heavyweight title;
Won vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Kevin Johnson | TKO | 2 (10),1:22 | 30 May 2015 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained WBC International heavyweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 |  Raphael Zumbano Love | TKO | 2 (8),1:21 | 9 May 2015 | Barclaycard Arena,Birmingham, England | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Jason Gavern | KO | 3 (8),1:21 | 4 Apr 2015 | Metro Radio Arena,Newcastle, England | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Michael Sprott | TKO | 1 (10),1:26 | 22 Nov 2014 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 |  Denis Bakhtov | TKO | 2 (10),1:00 | 11 Oct 2014 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Won vacant WBC Internationalheavyweight title |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 |  Konstantin Airich | TKO | 3 (8),1:16 | 13 Sep 2014 | Phones 4u Arena,Manchester, England | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Matt Skelton | TKO | 2 (6),2:33 | 12 Jul 2014 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Matt Legg | KO | 1 (6),1:23 | 31 May 2014 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 |  Hector Avila | KO | 1 (6),2:14 | 1 Mar 2014 | Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Dorian Darch | TKO | 2 (6),0:51 | 1 Feb 2014 | Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 |  Hrvoje Kisicek | TKO | 2 (6),1:38 | 14 Nov 2013 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Paul Butlin | TKO | 2 (6),0:50 | 26 Oct 2013 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 |  Emanuele Leo | TKO | 1 (6),2:47 | 5 Oct 2013 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Professional debut |
Personal life[edit]
Joshua has expressed an interest in
chess as well as reading as a way to reinforce his boxing and tactical abilities.
[84] He was a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time.
[85]
In 2009, Joshua was put on remand in
Reading Prison for what he describes as "fighting and other crazy stuff". He was made to wear an electronic tag on his ankle when released.
[86]
In March 2011, Joshua was pulled over by the police for speeding in
Colindale, North London. He was found with 8ozs of herbal
cannabis hidden in a sports bag in his
Mercedes-Benz. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a
class B drug, an offence that carries a maximum 14-year sentence. Joshua was suspended from GB boxing squad and was sentenced to a 12-month
community order and 100 hours’ unpaid work after pleading guilty at crown court.
[87]
In November 2016, Joshua announced he would be investing in a members-only fitness gym, BXR. Joshua teamed up with the founders of BXR and put together a number of sports therapists, boxers, boxing coaches and MMA fighters. The gym is set to open in January 2017 on Chiltern Street in
Marylebone,
London.
[88]
Joshua has said that he does not follow any particular religion, but is interested in religion in general.
[89] In January 2017, he posted a photo of himself praying at a mosque in
Dubai; the image generated a significant
anti-Muslim backlash against him on social media.
[90][91]
