Anthony Joshua Profile
The journey to the top has been as swift as it has spectacular for Anthony Joshua, but now his elite career stands at the crossroads. The two-time world heavyweight champion grew up in Watford but moved to the capital when he was 17. A year later he was introduced to the ‘noble art’ by a cousin, who took him along to Finchley ABC to start training. The rest, as they say, is history. The big Londoner with the cheerful character and imposing physique first came to worldwide prominence at the 2012 London Olympics, his smile lighting up the event as he claimed gold in the super-heavyweight division. He turned pro with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom soon after and enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks. He won the British title after just 14 fights, knocking out old amateur rival Dillian Whyte in a classic, and then won the IBF world heavyweight title in April 2016 with a crushing KO win in two (while barely breaking sweat) against American Charles Martin.
On an unforgettable night in 2017 he won an absolute war against Wladimir Klitschko, surviving a knockdown against ‘Dr Steelhammer’ and several rocky moments before pulling the fight out of the fire in the penultimate round to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. In 2019 he suffered the biggest heavyweight upset since James ‘Buster’ Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in 1990 when sawn-off Mexican American Andy Ruiz Jr stopped him in seven rounds in front of a disbelieving crowd at Madison Square Garden. However, AJ then showed his cojones and adaptability by beating Ruiz in a rematch six months later in Saudi Arabia. That victory showed another side to his game, as Joshua took a safety-first approach to beat Ruiz from the outside, winning handily on points.
Joshua would lose his titles once again in September 2021 when he was dethroned by the brilliant Ukrainian former cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua dropped a unanimous decision at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Usyk produced a boxing masterclass for the ages. A defeat by Usyk in their Saudi Arabia rematch in August 2022 was AJ’s third in five fights and left him with a lot to ponder as he assesses the road back to the top of the mountain.
Joshua is already rich beyond his wildest dreams, with lucrative endorsements deals swelling an already bulging bank balance. Yet it could all have been so different.
A 2011 conviction for Possession with intent to supply Class B drugs threatened to derail his career. If he had gone to prison, his Olympic dream would have been over and there’s no way he could have made the same impact as a pro. In the event he was shown mercy by the courts and has never looked back, proudly evolving into one of Britain’s greatest role models.
Joshua’s professional record currently stands at 24-3 with 22 of his victories coming inside distance. His three losses came against Ruiz Jr and Usyk (2) while the only two men to take him the distance are Joseph Parker, Ruiz Jr in their second fight and Usyk (2).
Anthony Joshua next fight
For now, Anthony Joshua’s boxing world is in tatters after that rematch defeat by Usyk in Jeddah in August 2022.
Any notion of another bid to become a three-time heavyweight champion of the world soon can be forgotten. Usyk and Tyson Fury hold all of the belts between, them, and they are likely to engage in a massive unification showdown next.
What is certain though is that AJ – if he still has the hunger to come back from those Usyk defeats – remains a hugely marketable heavyweight and there will be massive fights out there for him.
Anthony Joshua fight time
We have no idea as yet when Joshua will fight again (we have no idea absolutely for sure that he will). It’s likely that he will take a few months to get over the second Usyk loss to consider his future and what route he takes next.
Anthony Joshua fight on TV: how to watch
One thing we do know about Joshua’s next fight is that it will air globally on streaming platform DAZN – this after AJ signed a global deal with the ‘Netflix of sports’ in the summer of 2022.
Surprisingly the deal did not kick in until after the Usyk rematch, meaning that bout eventually ended up on AJ’s former home Sky Sports in the UK.
Anthony Joshua weight
Joshua tipped the scales at 244lbs (17st 6lbs) for his rematch with Usyk, some 4lbs heavier than he had been for their first meeting.
The heaviest Joshua has been as a pro is 254lbs (18st 2lbs), which he weighed against Frenchmen Carlos Takam in October 2017.
Anthony Joshua height
AJ is 6ft 6ins tall (1.98m) and he has a reach of 82 ins (2.08m).
Anthony Joshua promoter
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn is one of the sport’s most colourful characters and his shows have morphed into legitimate world events. Hearn has become something of a pantomime villain among British boxing fans but he accepts it with good grace and works tirelessly to promote his fighters. Joshua will now spend the rest of his professional career promoted by Hearn and Matchroom, after signing a new life-long deal in the days leading up to his London showdown with Usyk in September 2021.
Anthony Joshua trainer
Joshua ended his long-term association with trainer Robert McCracken following that loss to Usyk in September 2021.
He decided a change was needed and changed trainer to go with American Robert Garcia – who has handled some of the modern greats including Nonito Donaire and his own younger brother Mikey Garcia. The Usyk rematch was Joshua’s first with Garcia in the corner.
Anthony Joshua recent fights
Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2
It was all there for AJ, and he couldn’t quite make it happen. With the dream of a massive unification showdown vs Fury again at his fingertips, he fluffed his lines once again vs the Ukrainian maestro. The fight, and the result, was much closer than their first meeting – which had resulted in a clear-cut win for Oleksandr in London in 2021. This time Joshua landed much more and appeared to have the defending IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight king in real trouble in Round 9. But just when it appeared AJ might step on the gas to claim victory, Usyk rebounded in the style of a true champion to finish strong and take the win.
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk
AJ lost his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles for a second time when he was dethroned by Usyk in front of more than 67,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Joshua went in knowing that defeat would leave hopes of that Fury clash in tatters, and so it proved as the Ukrainian former cruiserweight king totally outboxed him to claim a unanimous decision. AJ looked ungainly and struggled to cope with the speed and movement of Usyk, who almost forced a stoppage in the final round as he finished in terrific style.
Anthony Joshua vs Pulev
Joshua, now a two-time world heavyweight champion, successfully defended his IBF, WBA and WBO belts against the 39-year-old Bulgarian at London’s SSE Arena, Wembley on December 12, 2020. AJ produced a convincing performance to put Pulev (now 28-2) down three times, the final knockdown closing the show via a peach of a right hand in the final seconds of Round 9. Before that AJ had dominated proceedings, and had twice sent Pulev to the canvas with uppercuts in the third and the ninth. Pulev had also been forced to take a standing count in the third.
Anthony Joshua vs Ruiz
On June 1 in New York City Andy Ruiz Jr turned the heavyweight division upside down with a stoppage victory over AJ that was scarcely believable. Ruiz only got the gig as a late replacement after Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller was denied a license after a positive test for a banned substance. It looked a mismatch on paper. The roly-poly no-hoper against the sculpted Adonis. In the event though the Londoner surrendering his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles at Madison Square Garden – via an improbable, incredible seventh round TKO – proved to be the defining moment of the sport in 2019. The victory for Ruiz completely changed the landscape in the heavyweight division. It set the Californian up for life financially while simultaneously crushing Joshua’s reputation as an unbeatable wrecking machine. We know now there are flaws in his game. Question marks about his punch resistance and stamina and a suspicion he is unable to smother an opponent in close when in trouble, or get the most from his jab against shorter foes.
Anthony Joshua v Ruiz 2
If their first fight was phenomenal, their return in Saudi Arabia was a strangely tepid, emotionless affair. The audience in the Middle East was much less excitable but it was Joshua’s decision to box from the outside, and Ruiz’s decision not to take training seriously (he had added 15 lbs to his frame since their summer meeting) that proved crucial. Make no mistake, it was a veritable masterclass of safety-first boxing from AJ, demonstrating how to hit and not be hit against a paunchy Mexican American who was unable to rip through his defences like he did so convincingly at MSG six months previously. It wasn’t his most violent or indeed his most thrilling display but it was one of Joshua’s best performances of his career to date, as he cruised to victory following 36 minutes of intense concentration to become just the fourth boxer in history to regain the world heavyweight titles in an immediate rematch.
Anthony Joshua net worth
Joshua’s net worth is now estimated to be a staggering £115 million, and despite losing his ‘0’ he remains one of the most marketable active fighters in the sport. Forbes have described Joshua as “a marketing juggernaut with more than a dozen sponsors, including Under Armour, Jaguar LandRover, Beats, British Airways and Hugo Boss”. He also has a lucrative UK broadcast deal with Sky Sports and his bouts are streamed globally by moneybags platform DAZN.
The Sunday Times Rich List of 2021 estimated that Joshua now has a personal wealth of £115million, up from £107million in 2020. The reason for that slowdown in growth is simple – there was a pandemic and AJ only fought once in the 12 months in front of a small and socially-distanced crowd.
Forbes placed Joshua at number 19 on its list of the Highest-Paid Athletes of 2020 – claiming the British superstar earned a total of $47m (£38m) with a whopping $11m of that (£9m) from those lucrative endorsements with blue-chip brands. Later in 2020 Joshua was listed at number 57 on Forbes Celebrity 100.
Anthony Joshua family
“Stay humble” is a phrase used regularly by Joshua but despite his oft heard mantra Big Josh has been romantically linked with a slew of famous females in recent years, including Bella Hadid, Rita Ora, and Geordie Shore’s Chantelle Connelly. He had a 23-man entourage for his New York debut against Ruiz and is known for having a lot of people around him during training camps and on fight nights. Watford star Troy Deeney is a close friend of AJ following a chance meeting in a barber shop several years ago. To underline his popularity Joshua currently has a whopping 14.2 million followers on Instagram.
AJ has a brother and two sisters – Jacob, Loretta and Janet Joshua while father Robert Joshua is arguably his biggest fan. His mother Yeta hails from Nigeria. Joshua lived with his mum even when he was world champion and the pair remain very close. He had a son – JJ – with Nicola Osborne but the pair are no longer together.
