Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) or AJ as he is fondly called is an English professional boxer and currently a two-time unified heavyweight world champion. Other than the obvious Juggernauts like Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson, few had captivated and dominated the heavyweight division of boxing like Joshua. Joshua currently clenches three from four major world championships. He holds the IBF title since 2016, the WBA (Super) title since 2017, the WBO since March 2018, the 1BO title since 2017, as well as the British and Commonwealth title at the regional level from 2014 to 2016. We take to account the rise of this boxing superstar in our Anthony Joshua biography facts, childhood, career, net worth and personal life.
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| Full Name: | Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua |
|---|---|
| Nicknames: | AJ |
| Born / Age: | 15 October 1989 (age 34 years) |
| Place of Birth: | Watford Hertfordshire England |
| Nationality: | British, English |
| Height: | 6ft 6in (198cm) |
| Weight: | 113 kg |
| Reach: | 82in (208cm) |
| Education: | Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State, Nigeria; Kings Langley Secondary School |
| Parents: | Robert Joshua (father); Yeta Joshua (mother) |
| Spouse: | N/A |
| Children: | Joseph Bayley Temiloluwa Prince Joshua (Son) |
| Net Worth: | $60 million |
| Occupation: | Boxer |
| Weight/Division: | Heavyweight |
| Boxing Career: | 2008–present |
| Zodiac Sign: | Libra |
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born October 15, 1989, in Watford Hertfordshire England to both Yeta Joshua and Robert Joshua. Joshua lived his childhood life in Nigeria as a student in boarding school. Subsequent to his parent’s divorce at age 12, young Joshua returned to the UK. He was by then just midway through the 7 th year. He annexed with Kings Langley Secondary School. He was desirably called Femi in school by his teachers and peers, a shrink from his middle name Oluwafemi.
Joshua wore the crown in football and athletics, and in the 9 th year, he hit the 100m high spot in 11.6 seconds. Joshua decided to set about boxing in 2007 when he was just 18. His cousin had actually proposed to Joshua to give it a try of which he did in due course.
In 2009, AJ won the Haringey box cup and re-performed the same triumph the succeeding year. Also that year, he emerged the winner of the ABA championship which he spectacularly did in the bout 18 as a juvenile boxer then. Prodigious and astonishing in some perception, Joshua rejected £500,000 to go white-collar that year. He later mooted that renouncing the bid wasn’t difficult because he didn’t engage in boxing for dough. The year after, he triumphed in the same tourney.
In 2010, Joshua’s boom in the ring favoured him a shot on GB boxing team, and downstream that year, he championed the GB amateur boxing championship, which he did by trouncing Amin Isa.
In 2011 at the European amateur boxing championship, Joshua drubbed Eric Berechlin and Cathal McMonagale but lost to Mihai Nistor.
In October 2011, Joshua was announced Amateur boxer of the year by the Boxing writers club of Britain.
During the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championship in Azerbaijan, Joshua announced his arrival on the world stage by beating the thrilling and sensational champion Robert Cammarelle, proceeding remarkably to stop the German Erik Pfeiffer in the semifinals, but lost by a whisker point count to Magomedrasul Majidov as he clinched the silver medal in the tournament.
The Big break for Joshua came in 2012 when he booked a spot in the 2012 Olympic games in the 91 kg+ division, despite being quite recent in boxing, he was not just a niggle.
Joshua was officially announced to be a pro-boxer nether the platform of Matchroom sports promo banner and kicked-off in October 2013 where he conquered Emanuele Leo. Joshua was present in the major-event of a Matchroom Sport card for the 2 nd time in his boxing wayfare. In October 2014 when he made his 9 th emergence for the deserted WBC International Heavyweight title, AJ faced Denis Bakhtov also desiring to clinch the title for the second time. Joshua emerged conqueror of the bout by knockout in Round 2 and capped the WBC International Heavyweight title at the age of 24.
It was stated that Anthony Joshua would face Gary Cornish, a Scottish who had an undefeated record in 2015 to fight for the open Commonwealth Heavyweight title. Joshua emanated as the champion as he defeated Cornish who was the current IBO Intercontinental Champion just 90 seconds into Round 1. Joshua also defeated Dillian Whyte who put his undefeated record at risk against Joshua. AJ received a pocket of £3million for this bout and signed a 5-year contract with Matchroom and pursued a share of the PPV revenue Matchroom earned.
In 2016, an announcement was made that Joshua and IBF heavyweight Champion Charles Martin would fight.. Martin was to defend this title as he won it in January that same year in 2016. Joshua won the bout as Martin showed-off a terrible performance of which he blamed of on distractions before the fight. This bout earned AJ his first-ever world title.
Defending his IBF title for the first time, Joshua was scheduled to fight Dominic Breazeale. Joshua won the fight and defended his title successfully as he sent Breazeale down in a knockout in Round 7. Following the bout, it was stated that Joshua could be scheduled next with IBF champion Joseph Parker in November. It was viewed by about 289,000 in the afternoon at Showtime.
In his second defence to the IBF title Joshua was scheduled to face Eric Molina after a lot of names have been put forward and cancelled, Joshua defeated Molina in the Round 3.
Fighting for the open WBA super title, WBA tied a bout between Joshua and Klitschko and the winner was announced to face obligatory challenger Kubrat Pelev. After a very competitive fight of which both men gave chase, AJ won by TKO in the 11 th round. A re-match was scheduled by IBF instead of the proposed challenge against Kubrat Pelev, but Klitschko stated his retirement after taking a lot of time out for the scheduled fight claiming to review a re-match. The proposed fight against Kubrat Pelev could then take place again but for the shoulder injury that Pelev sustained. Carlos Takam came in place to replace Pelev of which could fulfil Joshua’s defence. With almost 80,000 people available, Joshua knocked off Takam to keep in possession of his world titles. Takam believed that the fight ended at a premature time, but the judges ruled out the sentiments in his disfavour. In expectancy of 2018, Joshua was anticipating fights against Joseph Parker and Deontay Wilder, of which wins against both parties will secure a fight against Tyson Fury.
In March 2018, Joshua faced Parker after a lot of negotiations about the earnings, should Joshua win he would earn a height of £18 million and should Parker lose, he would lose as high as £8 million. Joshua defeated Parker in Round 12 and a harmonious decision by the judges favoured his win. He clinched the WBO title and kept hold of the other titles he had. Regarding the proposed fight between Joshua and Wilder, there were discombobulations in contracts although Wilder acquiesced to fight Joshua. Later, WBA provided Joshua’s camp 24 hours to finish deals with Alexandra Povetkin. Joshua signed a 3-year contract with Matchroom. WBO stated that the fight against Joshua would ascertain Joshua’s obligatory defences for the WBO and WBA titles he claimed as Povetkin was No. 1 in both bodies at the time which would see Joshua as the new Super champion if he conquered Povetkin. Joshua won the bout in Round 7 as he kept possession of his titles. Joshua was named Super Champion and earned £20 million.
On June 1, 2019, Joshua was defeated by Andy Ruiz via TKO in the 7th Round, striping him of his titles, with Ruiz becoming the unified heavyweight champion. However, Joshua defeated Ruiz in a rematch on December 7, 2019, becoming a two-time unified heavyweight champion.
| 23 Fights | 22 Wins | 1 Loss |
| By Knockout | 21 | 1 |
| By Decision | 1 | 0 |
Joshua’s net worth as of 2019 is estimated at $60 million USD placing him in the list as one of the richest boxers in the world. His net worth is currently boosted by his numerous investments, bonuses, endorsements and sponsorship deals with Beats Electronics, Jaguar, Hugo Boss, British Airways, Under Armour and Audemars Piguet. Joshua’s endorsements are cumulatively estimated at $10 million. His salary and winnings are currently capped at $45 million.
His mother (Yeta) has a Nigerian bearing while Joshua’s father (Robert) has a Nigerian and Irish ethnic descent. His parent’s ancestry can be ferret out to the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. Joshua’s cousin by name, Ben Lleyemi is into the bargain as a full-time boxer, as both individuals made their premiere in 2013 concertedly.
Joshua has a son, JJ (Joseph Bayley Temiloluwa Prince Joshua), with his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Osborne. She is a yoga instructor and a pole dancing teacher.
Interesting to know is the fact that Joshua has shown remarkable interest in games like Chess to help improve his tactics, a key potential and valuable skill of his victories in the ring.
Anthony Joshua was placed on remit, based on a depiction of “violence” in 2009 and an electronic tag was set on his ankle after his release.
In 2011, Joshua was halted by the corps and booked for over speeding. Concealed in his car were Class-B drugs. He pleaded guilty at court and was passed a sentence of 12 months without pay and a suspension from GB boxing squad.
In 2016, Anthony Joshua invested in a Members-only fitness gym which started operations in January 2017. This was a product of collaboration with the instigators of BXR along with some other health personnel, BXR boxers and boxers of the MMA.
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