Anthony Joshua, he is the pride of the UK, and without a doubt one of the hottest names in the boxing world in recent years. Nonetheless, deep inside, the world-renowned beast also has a heart of gold. So, let’s take a brief look at the British Lion.
For part of his childhood, Joshua lived in Africa with his parents. His mother is Nigerian, and his father is Nigerian and Irish. Then his parents got divorced, and he moved to England with his mother, Yeta, at the age 12. AJ worked at a series of construction sites during his amateur career, where he was a bricklayer. In 2009, Joshua faced 10 years in prison for what he would only say was “fighting and other crazy stuff.” . He was sentenced to a year of house arrest instead. Joshua has said the experience was a wake-up call, and he has credited boxing for keeping him on the right path since.
He didn’t start boxing until 2007 when he was 18. He won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup along with the senior ABA Championship in 2010. AJ was a prospect on the rise with considerable upside. Many promoters came left and right to try and secure Joshua. He was even offered £50,000 by one promoter to turn pro. Instead, Joshua turned it down to focus on continuing to improve and earn a spot on the 2012 Olympic team. Not only did he make the team representing Great Britain, but won a gold medal as a super heavyweight. Joshua holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight championship titles since he won them back from Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019 after a 6-month brake.
AJ doesn’t spend any of his £61million fortune on himself but he does on others; his team, his family, his past trainers, his friends and his community. He bought his first coach Sean Murphy a BMW 6 series, and said “These guys will always have their doors open for me no matter what. When it’s all said and done, I never forget who’s been there when no one was.” Sean says: “I’ve got a coach who had a bad rotator cuff, so he sent him to his physio, which really helped. He’s always asking, ‘Do you want anything?’ He has sorted us with new top class punch bags and other equipment. We get lots of letters to come here for him and he picks them up, takes them home to read them and reply to them personally.” He also puts local kids through their schooling and pays for medical care for others.
Joshua still lives with his mom in the house he bought for her. Yeta said “He could have bought himself a mansion years ago but that has been his last priority because he’s made sure everyone else was sorted first.”
Besides him obviously being a very well-trained and talented boxer, he is also a self-disciplined, and complete athlete with love for all sports. He took part in a television show titled ‘Superstars’ in March 2016, one month before his IBF title bout with Charles Martin. The TV special had different athletes competing in a 100-meter race. Joshua blistered the field and won the race which included two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, Mo Farah, by running an impressive 11.53 seconds.
We can’t know what the future will get, but we can still predict one thing: with his unique way of boxing and strong character, The British Lion is going to continue increasingly being talked about and being an inspiration to the future’s best athletes.
Ardan Güleçyüz02
