Anthony Joshua Biography

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua is a British professional boxer who is excellently known as Anthony Joshua. He is a two-time unified heavyweight champion and a winner of silver at the 2011 World Amateur Championships in the super heavyweight division. Having turned professional in 2013, Anthony holds WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles since December 2019. He previously held the unified heavyweight championships from 2016 to June 2019. He is also the first British heavyweight to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title. Additionally, Anthony is ranked as the world’s third-best active heavyweight by BoxRec as of October 2021.

Anthony Joshua famous for

• Being a British professional boxer.
• For being a two-time unified heavyweight champion.

What is Anthony Joshua’s nationality?

Anthony Joshua took birth on 15th October 1989 in Watford, Hertfordshire in England. His birth name is Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua and his nationality is British. He came from a mixed ethnic background as he has Nigerian ancestry on his mother’s side. While, on his father’s side, he is of Nigerian and Irish descent. Similarly, his religious belief is in the Christian religion and his race is black. Anthony has celebrated his 32nd birthday as of 2021 and as per his birthdate, his zodiac sign is Libra. He was born to a father, Robert Joshua, and a mother, Yeta Joshua. He has 4 siblings, Janet, Jacob, Loretta, and Nikita. 

Talking about Anthony’s education, he spent some of his early years in Nigeria, where he attended a boarding school in Ikenne, Mayflower School. His parents divorced when he was 12 years old. Following his parents’ divorce, he returned to the UK and attended the Kings Langley Secondary School. He grew up in Garston, Hertfordshire. He excelled at football and athletics in school, having broken his school’s Year Nine 100 m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.

Anthony Joshua’s Boxing Career

Amateur Career

• Anthony Joshua kicks off his boxing at the age of 18 from Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London.
• He won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup and also won the senior ABA Championships. 
• He turned down a 50,000 pounds offer to turn professional. 
• He won the ABA Championships in 2011 and won a gold medal to become a British amateur champion at the GB Championships. 
• He also won gold medals at the 2010 and 2011 English National Championships. 
• The Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain named the Amateur Boxer of the Year in 2011 after he compiled a 40-3 record.
• He rose to prominence after defeating the Italian reigning world and Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle at the 2011 World Championships. He won the silver medal at the tournament. 
• Joshua won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics defeating reigning Olympic champion and former two-time world champion, Cammarelle.
• Following his Olympics win, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2013. 

Professional Career

• Anthony turned professional under the Matchroom Sport promotional banner in 2013 and made his professional debut on 5th October 2013. He defeated Italian Emanuele Leo in the first round. 
• He then defeated Paul Butlin in October 2013, Hrvoje Kisicek in November 2013, Dorian Darch in February 2014, Hector Alfredo Avila in March 2014, Matt Legg in May 2014, and Matt Skelton in July 2014, and Konstantin Airich in September 2014. 
• He also defeated Dennis Bakhtov in October 2014 to win the WBC International heavyweight title and was only 24 years old when he won the WBC title.
• Joshua defeated Jason Gavern in April 2015 and Raphael Zumbano Love in May 2015 as well as he defeated Kevin Johnson in May 2015. 
• He defeated IBO Intercontinental champion, Gary Cornish in just 90 seconds in the first round to win the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title in July 2015. Cornish had compiled an undefeated 21-0 record until he faced Joshua.
• He faced another undefeated boxer, Eddie Hearn, in December 2015 for the vacant British heavyweight title. Anthony defeated then-Commonwealth heavyweight champion, Hearn, via KO in the seventh round. He earned 3 million pounds for this fight alone. 
• He then stripped IBF heavyweight championship from Charles Martin in April 2016 and defended his world title against Dominic Breazeale in June 2016 and Eric Molina in November 2016. 
• Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017 to win the vacant WBA (Super) title. He reportedly earned in the region of 15 million pounds from the fight. 
• Anthony and Klitschko’s rematch was scheduled for November 2017. However, the rematch never took place since Klitschko retired in August 2017. 
• His bout with Kubrat Pulev is scheduled for October. However, Pulev’s shoulder injury canceled their bout. 
• Carlos Takam replaced Pulev. Joshua successfully retained his world titles against Takam. 
• Joshua was next scheduled to face Joseph Parker in March 2018. The fight would earn Joshua a career-high 18 million pounds. 
• He had already compiled a 19-0 record. The bout was one of the toughest for Joshua as the bout went to twelve rounds. Joshua won the fight via unanimous decision to claim Parker’s WBO heavyweight title. 
• With the win, he retained his WBA (Super), IBA, and IBO titles as well. 
• The Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles, was scheduled for September 2018.
• Joshua also defended all his titles knocking out Povetkin in the seventh round. Joshua reportedly earned 20 million pounds from the bout.
• Subsequently, he made his US debut against Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019. He was initially scheduled to face Jarrell Miller. However, Miller was removed from the card after he tested positive for the banned substance. 
• He lost the bout for the first time when Ruiz defeated Joshua via TKO in the seventh round. Ruiz stripped Joshua’s all four heavyweight titles.
• Anthony reclaimed his unified heavyweight titles after he defeated Ruiz via unanimous decision in a rematch in December 2019.
• It was announced on 2nd March 2020 that Joshua would defend his heavyweight titles against Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs).
• Tyson Fury announced on his social media on 17th May 2021 that the fight between him and Joshua would take place on 14th August 2021 in Saudi Arabia. But, Anthony and Fury’s camps could not reach an agreement, and thus on 22nd May, the WBO issued the instruction that Joshua would have to fight Usyk, with an agreement for the bout to be in place by 31st May.
• Later an official announcement was made on 20th July 2021, confirming that the fight between Joshua and Usyk would be taking place on 25th September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
• On the night, Usyk produced an upset, outboxing the champion Joshua over 12 rounds to claim a unanimous decision victory, with scores of 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113, handing Joshua the second professional loss of his career.

Racism controversies

Anthony was accused of racism for his speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in Watford in June 2020, where he said “show them where it hurts, abstain from spending your money in their shops and economies, and invest in black-owned businesses.” This was interpreted by some as a call to boycott white businesses. In response, he said the speech was not his own and that he had only read it out on behalf of a friend. He also said, “If you think I’m a racist, go fuck yourself.”

Legal Issues

Anthony Joshua was put on remand in Reading Prison in 2009. Upon release, he was ordered to wear an electronic tag. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug after he was found with eight ounces of herbal cannabis when police pulled him over in March 2011. He pleaded guilty and was suspended from the GB Boxing squad and a 12-month community order and 100 hours of unpaid work.

Does Anthony Joshua have a wife?

Anthony Joshua is an unmarried man. He is a father of a son named Joseph Bayley Temiloluwa Prince Joshua with his former partner Nicole Osborne. Their son was born in October 2015. Joshua was also rumored to be dating supermodel Bella Hadid in 2017. However, neither of them confirmed their relationship. Anthony spoke about his positive relationship with his longtime promoter Eddie Hearn in 2020, who has promoted him since his professional debut in 2013, saying that he “and Eddie will always have a great friendship.” Talking about his sexual orientation, he is straight.

Anthony Joshua’s Net Worth 2022

Anthony Joshua is one of the most popular boxers of this generation as he is also one of the highest-paid athletes in the world and earns over $50 million per year. He has a net worth of $80 million as of 2022. Anthony reportedly earned $100 million from his revenge match against Ruiz in December 2019. Besides fighting, his income comes from contracts and endorsements. As well, he has sponsor deals with Under Armour, Sky Sports, BXR, Texo Scaffolding, Beats, Lynx, Jaguar, EQ, StubHub, and Lucozade Sport among others. His net worth is estimated at $90 million at present. 

Anthony Joshua Height, Weight

Anthony Joshua stands at a tall height of 1.98 m i.e. 6 feet and inches tall and his body weighs around 249 lbs i.e. 113 kg. He has an athletic body build with 39-37-18 inches of body measurements. He has a reach of 2.08 m i.e. 82 inches. His eye color is dark brown and his hair color is black. Anthony also has a tattoo of the continent of Africa on his right shoulder, with the territory of Nigeria outlined, and says he feels a strong connection to his Nigerian roots.