Anthony Joshua has become one of the biggest stars, not only in British boxing but in Britain as a whole. The former Heavyweight Champion of the World has made a dramatic rise from amateur fighter to one of the best boxers on the planet but despite Joshua being a very high-profile athlete, there are still a lot of things that people don’t know about him. Ahead of his headline fight this weekend against Andy Ruiz Jr., we’ve taken a look back at Joshua’s life and found out ten things that might not exactly be common knowledge about the superstar heavyweight.
Nigerian Descent
AJ was born in the UK but both of his parents are Nigerian and he actually spent some his childhood living in the African country. The tattoo on his right arm pays tribute to Nigeria.
Late Starter
Most professional boxers start training and competing at an early age but Joshua was different. He didn’t start boxing until he was 18 years of age and still went on to become an Olympic champion as an amateur and a world champion as a professional.
Bricklayer
Before taking up boxing as a full-time profession, AJ worked as a bricklayer and labourer on building sites in the London area.
Run ins with the law
Back in 2009, Joshua was put on remand by Reading Prison for what he says was “fighting and other crazy stuff”. He had to wear an electronic tag on his ankle when he was released. Two years later, he was found with 8oz of cannabis in his Mercedes-Benz. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours worth of unpaid work for that drug-related offence.
MBE
In 2013, Joshua was named as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to boxing.
A shared record with Joe Frazier
AJ became only the second boxer, after Joe Frazer, to win a World Heavyweight title whilst still being the reigning Olympic heavyweight champion.
Another shared record
AJ became only the second British boxer in history, after James DeGale, to win a world title after winning an Olympic gold medal for Team GB.
Chess player
AJ says he likes to think tactically in the ring and plays chess regularly in order to improve his tactical prowess and mental awareness.
Knockout specialist
Joshua has won 22 professional fights, with 21 of those wins coming by either KO or TKO. In fact, he’s only had a fight go further than 11 rounds once; when he beat Joseph Parker by a unanimous decision back in March 2018.
Nickname
As well as the obvious ‘AJ’, Joshua’s friends also refer to him as ‘Femi’, which is a shortened version of his middle name ‘Oluwafemi’.