Anthony JoshuaAnthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, MBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is currently a unified world heavyweight champion, having held the IBF title since 2016, and the WBA (Super) and IBO titles since April 2017. At regional level he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2014 to 2016. As an amateur competing in the super-heavyweight division, Joshua represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning a silver medal; he also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning gold. In 2014, a year after turning professional, The Ring magazine named him their Prospect of the Year
[Transnational Boxing As of October 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world"s best active heavyweight by the [1] [2]Rankings Board and BoxRec, and second by The [3]Ring. His knockout-to-win ratio stands at 100%. Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so. He is also the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight. As of November 2017, Joshua has the 12th longest combined title streak in modern boxing history at 5 title bouts. Early life Edit Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother [4][5]Yeta Odusanya and a British father Robert of [6]Nigerian descent. Specifically, he is of Yoruba [7]ethnicity. His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi. The pair made their professional [8]debuts together in 2013. Joshua grew up for some of his early years in Nigeria and returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, Joshua was called "Femi" by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name "Oluwafemi". He excelled at football and athletics and broke the Year [9][10]Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds. Amateur career Edit A late starter in the sport, Joshua only began boxing in 2007, aged 18, when his cousin suggested he take it up. His club, Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Dereck Chisora. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua won the senior ABA Championships in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down £50,000 to turn professional. "Turning down that £50,000 was easy. I didn"t take up the sport for money, I want to win medals." He also went on to win the same tournament the following year. In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Amateur Boxing Championships after defeating Amin Isa. In June 2011 at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships he beat Eric Berechlin and Cathal McMonagle but was stopped by aggressive Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several [11]standing counts. In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain. [12]Joshua had an amateur record of 40-3. 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships Edit During the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning World & Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer, Magomedrasul Majidov winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 91 kg+ division as a relative new-comer to the elite level of the sport. 2012 Olympic Games Edit Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics as a novice on the international scene, despite being a world silver medalist. He received a tough draw in the last 16 of the super heavyweight event, in Cuban Erislandy Savón, ranked No. 4 in the world by AIBA and nephew of the three time Olympic champion, Félix Savón. The home boxer battled through three tough rounds in his opening contest before being given the result 17:16. This decision caused some controversy with most observers believing Savon had [13]clearly won the bout whilst a few others taking [14]the view that he had won on merit. In his next bout he fought 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist, Zhang Zhilei dropping his taller opponent in the middle round, Joshua won by 15:11 guaranteeing at least a bronze medal. In the semi-final Joshua met Kazakhstan boxer, Ivan Dychko, but despite Joshua"s height disadvantage he won by 13:11 victory gaining a place in the Olympic final. Joshua met 32-year-old reigning Olympic Champion and former twice World Champion, Roberto Cammarelle of Italy in the closing bout. After conceding the first two rounds (6:5 and 13:10) to Cammarelle, an adversary he had already beaten the previous year, Joshua grew into the fight and fought back to level the scores after the third round (18:18), Joshua was announced winner via [15]count-back and the new Olympic champion. The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, [16]being defined as a "home decision". He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing.br]Read More About Anthony Joshua
