Anthony Joshua Biography: Early Life, Career, Stats, Relationship, Net Worth
Anthony Joshua (born October 15, 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a two-time heavyweight champion, having won the unified world heavyweight championship twice, from 2017 to 2019 and 2019 to 2021. Between 2015 and 2016, he was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion.
Joshua competed as an amateur for England in the 2011 World Championships, winning silver in the super-heavyweight division. He also competed for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics, winning gold. In 2014, a year after going professional, The Ring magazine named him Prospect of the Year.
In 2017, The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America named his victory over Wladimir Klitschko Fight of the Year.
Anthony Joshua biography
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on October 15, 1989, in Watford, Hertfordshire, as the son of Yeta and Robert Joshua. His mother is Nigerian, and his father has Nigerian and Irish descent. Joshua’s Nigerian roots can be traced back to the Yoruba people, among whom he is of aristocratic status. His cousin, Ben Ileyemi, is a professional boxer. The two made their professional debuts together in 2013.
Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria, attending Mayflower School in Ikenne. [9] After his parents divorced when he was 12, he returned to the UK midway through Year Seven to attend Kings Langley Secondary School.
Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, his friends and previous teachers referred to him as “Femi” because of his middle name, Oluwafemi. He excelled at football and athletics, breaking his school’s Year Nine 100-metre record in 11.6 seconds.
Career
Anthony Joshua began his amateur boxing career in 2007, at the age of 18, and is considered a latecomer to the sport. He joined the club Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, where he won his first Haringey Box Cup in 2009.
Joshua followed up his feat with a win at the senior ABA Championship in 2010, after which he was offered $70,000 (£50,000) to go professional, which he declined. Anthony Joshua won the Great Britain Amateur Boxing Championships in 2010 and received the Boxing Writers Club’s Amateur Boxer of the Year award in 2011.
He won a silver medal in the 2011 World Championships and, a year later, at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, he won gold. Anthony Joshua began his professional boxing career in the summer of 2013. On October 5, 2013, he won his debut heavyweight boxing battle against Emanuele Leo of Italy via Technical Knockout(TKO) in the first round.
By 2014, he had an excellent 9-0 record after defeating Russia’s Denis Bakhtov for the WBC International Heavyweight Title. Anthony Joshua won the Commonwealth heavyweight title in September 2015, and then three months later, he claimed the British heavyweight title.
In April 2017, Joshua fought Wladimir Klitschko to defend his IBF heavyweight title. In September 2018, he went on to defeat Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round via knockout. Joshua’s record by late 2018 was an astounding 22 victories and 0 defeats.
Soon after, talk of a rematch between Joshua and Klitschko began to circulate, with Klitschko stating that he needed time to consider his options before consenting to a rematch. On August 2, 2017, Joshua revealed that if he were to fight a rematch with Klitschko on November 11, 2017, he would need to begin a three-month training camp on August 22, 2017.
However, the fight never took place because Klitschko announced on his website and social media channels that he was retiring from boxing. This virtually destroyed the chance of a Joshua vs. Klitschko rematch. Joshua later fought and defeated Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
In December 2018, Anthony Joshua was scheduled to meet Dillian Whyte in a heavyweight battle at Wembley Stadium. This was going to be a heavyweight rematch, which Joshua had previously won for £3 million.
There was back and forth concerning the contest, with Whyte claiming to have heard information that Joshua was preparing to cancel their Wembley date and instead fight American challenger Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The back-and-forth over the Joshua-Whyte fight continued when Whyte claimed on January 12, 2019, that he had turned down Joshua’s lowball offer to face him in a rematch.
Whyte, on the other hand, did not reveal the amount of money he claimed Joshua had offered him to fight him. The controversy erupted when Whyte claimed that Joshua did not want to fight him because he had known since September 2018 that he would be fighting in April 2019, but had made no offers.
On February 1, it became increasingly doubtful that Joshua would fight Whyte at Wembley Stadium, prompting Whyte to declare that the Joshua fight was dead and that he was considering other options, including a possible bout with Dominic Breazeale.
Following the cancellation of the Joshua v Whyte fight, Jarrell Miller announced his intention to fight Joshua, and on February 8, 2019, terms were agreed for Joshua to defend his unified heavyweight titles against Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, effectively marking Joshua’s US debut.
The Joshua v Miller fight had the largest pre-sale revenue in the arena’s boxing history. Miller shoved Joshua during their first face-off, and the launch presser heated up immediately. The situation gradually calmed down, and both parties took their seats. From there, it was a back-and-forth verbal exchange before Miller walked off stage.
Joshua stayed to address any leftover questions from the media. Joshua was expected to earn £19.3 million ($25 million) for his US debut. According to another story, Joshua was set to receive almost $32 million. Miller, on the other hand, was set to earn a career-high $4.875 million as part of his deal with DAZN, which included two further bouts at $3 million.
On April 17, 2019, both camps acknowledged that the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association had informed them that Miller had tested positive for the prohibited drug GW1516. Miller submitted to a random urine test administered by VADA on March 20. Further tests on March 31 revealed positive results for EPO, HGH, and GW1516, putting his battle against Joshua in jeopardy.
Andy Ruiz Jr (31-1, 20 KOs) has put his name forward to replace Miller and challenge Joshua for the unified heavyweight championships on June 1, 2019. On April 22, Ruiz announced that his team had a meeting arranged with promoter Eddie Hearn, placing himself in the race.
Terms were settled upon within a week. On May 1, with one month until fight night, Joshua vs. Ruiz was confirmed and announced to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, exclusively on DAZN in the United States.
Ruiz was expected to earn approximately $7 million (£5.36 million) for the fight. On match night, Anthony Joshua defeated Ruiz Jr in the third round for the first time in his career. Ruiz Jr. beat the count and earned his own knockdown shortly after. Joshua was down again near the end of the round in a huge turnaround.
Joshua survived the next few rounds, but after two more knockdowns in the seventh round, the referee stopped the fight, giving Ruiz Jr the win by TKO in the seventh round, effectively handing Joshua his first career heavyweight loss and gaining all four of Joshua’s heavyweight titles in the process.
At the moment of the stoppage, Ruiz Jr led the fight 57-56 on two scorecards, while Joshua led 57-56 on the other. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.
On December 7, 2019, Joshua won a rematch in Saudi Arabia, defeating Andy Ruiz Jr on points and recovering all four of his heavyweight belts.
Personal Life
Joshua has displayed an interest in chess and literature as ways to improve his boxing and tactical skills. He worked as a bricklayer before becoming a full-time boxer. In 2009, Joshua was sent on remand in Reading Prison for “fighting and other crazy stuff”. When he was finally released, he had to wear an electronic tag on his ankle.
In March 2011, Joshua was pulled over by police in Colindale, North London, for speeding. He was discovered with eight ounces (226.8 grammes) of herbal cannabis concealed in a sports bag in his Mercedes-Benz. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B substance, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.
Joshua was suspended from the GB Boxing squad and sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty at the Crown Court. Joshua previously stated in 2012 that he does not support a football team, but when asked in a 2017 interview, he stated that, while he supports his local team, Watford F.C., his “overall favourite” team is Real Madrid C.F. because of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a Real Madrid player at the time.
In the same interview, he praised English footballer Troy Deeney, whom he met by coincidence at a local barbershop in his hometown of Watford, as a “good friend”. In a July 2014 interview with iFL TV, Joshua listed Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield as his favourite five heavyweight boxers of all time.
Joshua had a kid named Joseph “JJ” Joshua with dance teacher Nicole Osbourne in 2015. In 2020, Joshua discussed his excellent connection with his long-time promoter Eddie Hearn, who has promoted him since his professional debut in 2013, adding that he and Eddie will always have a great friendship.” In 2023, Joshua joined the investment group of Formula One’s Alpine racing teams.
Anthony Joshua net worth
Anthony Joshua’s net worth is expected to reach approximately $100 million by 2026. The British professional boxer has amassed wealth from his stellar boxing career, which includes titles from the WBA (Super), WBO, and IBF. Joshua has also made big money through endorsement deals with top brands like Under Armour, Jaguar, and Beats Electronics, among others.
He has also generated money through pay-per-view (PPV) revenue, ticket sales, and product sales. Joshua’s net worth is projected to increase as he continues to be one of the world’s most popular and successful boxers.
Social Media
Instagram: @anthonyjoshua
