Anthony Joshua’s biography, career, and achievements

Anthony Joshua is one of the most famous persons in the boxing world, and he is a British professional boxer with two times the heavyweight championship. Joshua has also held the WBO, WBA(super), IBF, and IBO titles. He held these titles from December 2019 to September 2021. Before that time, Anthony Joshua had won the mentioned titles at the regional level between 2016 and June 2019. Anthony Joshua was also the commonwealth and British heavyweight champion.

Childhood, Education and life beginning

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on October 15, 1989, in Watford Hertfordshire, to the family of Yeta and Robert Joshua. He is from mixed ancestry. While his father is Nigerian and of Irish descent, his mother is Nigerian.

Anthony Joshua’s background can be traced to the Yoruba tribe, specifically Sagamu, Ogun state in Nigeria. Anthony Joshua hails from the aristocratic family of the Yoruba with a rich cultural heritage. That is why he is never shy to associate himself with the country and its identity. Besides, he is massively supported in Nigeria.

Anthony Joshua started his primary education at the Mayflower boarding school in Nigeria. Due to his parent’s divorce, he went back to the UK to further his education when he was 12. On his return to the United Kingdom through Year seven, Joshua joined King Langley secondary school, where he finished his secondary school education.

Anthony Joshua was famous in his school as an athlete and a footballer, and he even broke the Year nine record of his secondary school 100-metre race by covering the distance in 11.6 seconds. His athletic body and height have always been one of his significant strengths in his career.

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Anthony Joshua’s Boxing career: from amateur to professional

Anthony Joshua started his amateur boxing career in 2007 in his club, Finchley ABC, North London- a boxing club reputed for being a home of successful boxers. As an amateur, Anthony Joshua won many awards like the Haringey box cup in 2009 and 2010.

He also won the ABA championship in 2010, and he went ahead to win more championship games. As icing on the cake of his amateur career, Anthony Joshua earned the British Boxing writer’s club for the best amateur boxer of the Year. Joshua with an outstanding 40-3 record.

Anthony Joshua also extended his remarkable record when he represented England at the 2011 World championships super heavyweight division, and he won a silver medal. At the 2012 Olympics, Anthony Joshua represented Great Britain, and he won a gold medal in the competition.

Anthony Joshua was said to have rejected the sum of £50,000 to become a professional boxer. While he was at the earliest days of his professionalism in 2014, he was named one of the most promising and prospective boxers in the United Kingdom. And that made him to be more recognised among his peers.

In 2013, there was confirmation that Anthony Joshua had become a professional boxer under the Matchroom sports organisation. He made his debut on October 2, 2013, at the 02 arenas in the main event, where he beat the Italian boxer, Emmanuel Leo by technical knockout in the first round of the match.

He also won his second match on October 26, 2013. Joshua defeated English heavyweight Paul Butlin at the motor point arena in Sheffield. The fight ended in the second round when the referee declared Anthony Joshua the winner after punishing Butlin on a technical knockout.

His third fight against Croatian Hrvoje Kišiček also ended in the second round, similar to his previous fights. His next five fights came up in the same thread, making him undefeated in his nine fights in a row, at age 24.

Anthony Joshua’s tenth fight came as a record-breaking March between him and Michael Sprott. The fight lasted just 1 minute 36 seconds, making him get his tenth win in just 36 minutes, 36 seconds.

Commonwealth and IBF championships

To contest for the commonwealth championship, Anthony Joshua fought Scottish boxer Gary Cornish who was undefeated and the IBO intercontinental champion at the time, at the 02 arenas in London.

The fight ended in Joshua’s favour as he knocked Cornish out in 90 seconds to become the commonwealth heavyweight champion. In the post-match interview, Anthony Joshua said he was calculative with Gary Cornish, and that was why he won the fight.

Not long after the fight, Anthony Joshua went on to win his first World title by defeating the IBF heavyweight champion at that time, Charles Martins. It was a massive boost to Anthony Joshua’s career because he did not just win the fight. He took the holder of the world title out in the second round.

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Joshua’s reign as unified champion

In 2016, he engaged in a sanctioned fight between him and Klitschko to contest for the WBA title. The fight took place in London because Joshua had already beaten Molina, and to solidify his victory, he was to beat his fellow WBA title contender.

The fight was said to generate over 80,000 tickets sold, and Joshua was to profit £15 million. Joshua dramatically won the challenge, and it was one of the most famous matches of the Year.

Anthony Joshua vs Pulev

In 2017, a fight between Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev would be held at the principality stadium in Cardiff. The match sold 70,000 tickets at the earliest announcement stage, making it the fastest-selling event. The fight could not occur because of Kubrat Pulev’s injury. But the match was later held in 2020, making Anthony Joshua the winner after knocking Pulev out in the ninth round.

However, His winning ways ended when he fought with Oleksandr Usyk, which he later won. It was reported that the Usyk threw more punches than Anthony Joshua – 148 to 123.

…With Fury

The aftermath of the fight between Anthony Joshua and Pulev caught Tyson Fury’s attention. Another Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight date took place in August 2021. Tyson Fury won the match, making Joshua record his third defeat in history.

Anthony Joshua’s net worth

According to Forbes, in 2020, Anthony Joshua’s net worth was $47 million. He makes money from promoting juggernauts and other sponsors like Jaguar Land Rover, Beats, Sky Sports, Hugo Boss, Under Armour.

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