Anthony Joshua

Childhood and youth

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on October 15, 1989 in Watford, United Kingdom. The boxer's paternal great-grandfather was the chief of the Yoruba tribe Omo-Oba Daniel Odhiambo, one of the first Nigerians who entered into trade with Europeans at the beginning of the XX century. The athlete's ancestor became a rich and influential man, buying up land in the Sagemu region, built the first cinema there, founded the African Church of Christ, donated money to Anglican, Catholic churches and even mosques.Adebambo had 12 wives, the chief sent his children to study abroad. His son, being educated in the UK, in 1952 married a lady of Irish nationality, because of which he fought with three white aristocrats who opposed mixed unions. Anthony's great-uncle Adedamola claimed that it was from his grandfather that the guy inherited his fighting skills.The boy spent several years in Africa, studying at the Mayflower boarding school, whose patroness was his Irish grandmother. Joshua got up at 5.30 in the morning, then it was necessary to boil water for washing, the students themselves washed and ironed. Anthony later gratefully recalled the experience of strict discipline, while teachers and classmates had no idea that they were a descendant of Adebambo: the guy never mentioned it.

When Anthony was 12 years old, his parents divorced, and the teenager returned to the UK to attend Kings Langley School. He showed interest in cars, women and drugs, the young man had problems with the law. In 2009, Joshua was imprisoned in Reading Prison for a fight, after his release he wore an electronic tag on his leg for some time. In 2011, the athlete was arrested for speeding, and 226.8 grams of herbal cannabis were also found in his possession, for which the boxer received a year of community service.At a young age, Anthony worked as a bricklayer on a construction site, demonstrated success in sports in his spare time, and was also fond of chess, which helped develop tactical and strategic thinking.

Box

In 2008, Anthony expressed a desire to compete in the ring from Nigeria and asked to be included in the national team at the Olympic Games in Beijing. However, he was late for the general training, and the mentors, not seeing the boxer's abilities, refused to grant citizenship. However, African experts admitted that Joshua had lost nothing by starting his career in the UK. On the contrary, the young man was provided with the best specialists, doctors, agents and so on, which he could not get in Nigeria.But the athlete never forgot about his roots when visiting his father, and his compatriots responded with gratitude. On April 29, 2017, on the day of the heavyweight's fight with Wladimir Klitschko, which was won by technical knockout, fans dressed in T-shirts with Anthony's photo walked the streets of Sagama until morning.

On September 22, 2018, Joshua defeated Alexander Povetkin, in 2019 he became the absolute champion, taking the belts of all 4 associations. In December 2020, he defended the title in a fight against Kubrat Pulev, where he won by knockout in the 9th round.In April 2021, promoters from Saudi Arabia offered a fee of $ 150 million for Joshua's fight with Tyson Fury . In 2019, this country hosted a rematch of the champion with Andy Ruiz Jr., in the first match with whom Anthony suffered the only defeat in his sports biography. The boxer and his opponent had to earn a lot of money just from the deal with the organizers, not counting royalties from broadcasts around the world.Unfortunately, the parties could not agree due to a conflict of interest, and the WBO obliged Joshua to fight with Ukrainian Alexander Usyk. The fight was scheduled for September 25, 2021, the venue was a hall in Tottenham, London. Joshua lost the fight.

Progress

2010-2011 - ABAE Heavyweight Champion of England

2011 - Silver medalist of the World Heavyweight Championship

2012 - Olympic Heavyweight champion

2012 - Order of the British Empire , Knight Degree

2014 - The most promising boxer of the year according to the authoritative magazine "The Ring"

2014-2015 - International champion according to WBC

2015 - British Champion according

to BBBofC 2015 - British Commonwealth Champion

2016-2019 - IBF World Champion

2017 — The most commercially successful athlete of the Year according to SportsPro

2017 - Athlete of the Year according to GQ magazine

2017 - Boxer of the Year according to BoxingScene, British Boxing Board of Control

2017 - Participant of the "Fight of the Year" (against Wladimir Klitschko)

2017-2019 - IBO

World Champion 2017-2019 — WBA Super

World Champion 2018-2019 — WBO World Champion

Interesting facts

Before the fight with Carlos Takam, who set a record for attendance, Joshua met Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the locker room. He is also friends with footballer Troy Deeney from his native Watford.

On Anthony's right arm, just below the shoulder, there is a tattoo of the African continent with Nigeria highlighted against the general background.

In 2017, the heavyweight was recognized as the athlete with the most advertising contracts, ahead of basketball player Stephen Curry.

In November 2017, Joshua received a lot of negative feedback when he called Eddie Chambers "a disgrace to the superior black race" on his Instagram page. In 2020, at the Black Lives Matter protest, he read a letter on behalf of a friend who suggested "not spending money in stores for whites, investing in black business," after which the athlete was accused of racism.