{"id":13985,"date":"2017-12-15T04:35:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T10:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=13985"},"modified":"2017-12-15T04:35:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T10:35:24","slug":"anthony-joshuambe-currently-the-unified-world-heavyweight-champion-is-a-bbc-sports-personality-2017-award-contender-the-myboysay-global-sports-enthusiasts-group-says-he-is-the-man-han","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=13985","title":{"rendered":"ANTHONY JOSHUA(MBE), CURRENTLY “THE UNIFIED WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION”, IS A “BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY 2017 AWARD CONTENDER”: “THE MYBOYSAY GLOBAL SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS GROUP SAYS HE IS THE MAN, HANDS DOWN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Anthony Joshua, currently The Unified World Heavyweight<\/a>\u00a0Champion,\u00a0Defeated Wladimir Klitschko with an 11th-round stoppage in a gripping fight<\/a> watched by a post-war record crowd of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in April 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They fought a close and cautious first four rounds. In the fifth, Joshua came out and barraged Klitschko to the canvas. Klitschko rose up and dominated Joshua for the remainder of the round, battering him and scoring his own knockdown in round 6. The next few rounds were again cautious, both men wary of each other, until a reinvigorated Joshua attacked Klitschko in round 11, sending him to the canvas. Klitschko again rose but Joshua knocked him down for a second time in the round, then sent a barrage of punches while Klitschko was against the ropes that made the referee stop the fight.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time of stoppage, Joshua was ahead on two judges scorecards 96\u201393 and 95\u201393, and the third judge had Klitschko ahead 95\u201393. CompuBox stats showed that Joshua landed 107 of his 355 punches thrown (30%), and Klitschko landed 94 of 256 (37%).<\/sup> Joshua called out Tyson Fury<\/a> in the post fight interview, “Tyson Fury, where you at, baby? Come on — that’s what they want to see. I just want to fight everyone. I’m really enjoying this right now.”<\/strong><\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"The Watford-born fighter retained his WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles with a dogged win over Carlos Takam in Cardiff in October 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He took victory in the 10th round despite breaking his nose in an accidental clash of heads in the second round.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“He beat one of the best heavyweights of all time, who was in great shape. Klitschko was a great fighter who had been champion for 10 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“AJ went to the trenches. He came through it well. It was one of the best heavyweight title fights I’ve seen in a long time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“What he’s done is unbelievable so far. He’s up there with the best. He’s going to keep improving.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

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From Watford schoolboy to world champion – but Joshua only took up boxing at the age of 18 (1\/5)Spent some of his early years in Nigeria before returning to Watford, where he was a footballer and athlete at school but had a habit of getting into trouble until he concentrated on boxing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The former bricklayer scooped a silver medal in the World Championships as an amateur and won Olympic super-heavyweight gold at London 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He turned professional a year later and is undefeated in all 20 fights as a pro.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua has won all those bouts inside the distance and hopes to add more belts to his collection in 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What he said: “I’m serious about becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Tahir Ahmed: Has to be Anthony Joshua – for being not only a world champion but an inspiration to youngsters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stephen Davies: BBC Sports Personality of the Year has got to go to Anthony Joshua. Becoming heavyweight champion in what might have been fight of the decade sealed it for me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sherif Kader: It’s @anthonyfjoshua for me – what a career this humble guy is having.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Boxing is a dynamic sport that teaches physical and mental discipline, and the training regime that comes with it is one of the most intensive in sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anthony Oluwa Joshua\u00a0MBE<\/a><\/span> (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer<\/a>. He is currently a unified world heavyweight<\/a> champion, having held the IBF<\/a> title since 2016, and the WBA (Super)<\/a> and IBO<\/a> titles since April 2017. At regional level he held the British<\/a> and Commonwealth<\/a> heavyweight titles from 2014 to 2016. As an amateur<\/a>competing in the super-heavyweight<\/a> division, Joshua represented England at the 2011 World Championships<\/a>, winning a silver medal; he also represented Great Britain<\/a> at the 2012 Olympics<\/a>, winning gold. In 2014, a year after turning professional, The Ring<\/i> magazine<\/a> named him their Prospect of the Year<\/a>.<\/strong><\/div>\n

\"\"As of October 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world’s best active heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board<\/a><\/sup> and BoxRec<\/a>,<\/sup> and second by The Ring<\/i>.<\/sup> His knockout<\/a>-to-win ratio stands at 100%. Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale<\/a>, 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<\/a>, 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<\/a> at 5 title bouts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua was born in Watford<\/a> to a Nigerian<\/a> mother Yeta Odusanya and a British<\/a> father Robert<\/sup><\/sup> of Nigerian descent.\u00a0<\/sup>Specifically, he is of Yoruba<\/a> ethnicity.<\/sup> His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben lleyemi. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua grew up for some of his early years in Nigeria and returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven<\/a> to join Kings Langley Secondary School<\/a>. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire<\/a>, 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 Nine<\/a> 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/a>, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Dereck Chisora<\/a>. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua won the senior ABA Championships<\/a> in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down “\u00a350,000.00” to turn professional. “Turning down that “\u00a350,000.00″ 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing<\/a> team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Amateur Boxing Championships<\/a> after defeating Amin Isa. In June 2011 at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships<\/a> he beat Eric Berechlin and Cathal McMonagle but was stopped by aggressive Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several standing counts.<\/sup> In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Joshua had an amateur record of 40-3”.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships<\/a> in Baku<\/a>, Azerbaijan<\/a>, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning World & Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle<\/a>, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer<\/a> of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer,\u00a0Magomedrasul Majidov<\/a> winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games<\/a> in the 91\u00a0kg+ division as a relative new-comer to the elite level of the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics<\/a> 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 Sav\u00f3n<\/a>, ranked No. 4 in the world by AIBA<\/a> and nephew of the three time Olympic champion, F\u00e9lix Sav\u00f3n<\/a>. 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 clearly won the bout<\/sup> whilst a few others taking the view that he had won on merit.<\/sup> In his next bout he fought 2008 Beijing Olympics<\/a> silver medalist, Zhang Zhilei<\/a> dropping his taller opponent in the middle round, Joshua won by 15:11 guaranteeing at least a bronze medal. In the semi-final Joshua metKazakhstan<\/a> boxer, Ivan Dychko<\/a>, 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<\/a> 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 count-back and the new Olympic champion.<\/sup> The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, being defined as a “home decision”.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire<\/a> (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was reported that Joseph Parker<\/a>‘s team were looking at Lucas Browne<\/a> as a potential match-up if they failed to land a unification fight with Joshua. According to Higgins, a date in March 2018 was being discussed with Joshua’s team, however Eddie Hearn offered an 80-20 split, which would favor Joshua. Higgins spoke toFairfax Media<\/a>, saying the offer would need to be more reasonable, also taking into consideration the fight would take place in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Other names discussed for a Summer 2018 fight included Bryant Jennings<\/a> and Alexander Povetkin<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>According to a Tweet from Parker on 15 November, he was offered less than half of what was paid to Charles Martin when he defended his IBF title against Joshua.\u00a0The next day, Higgins told Fairfax Media that he and Hearn were still talking around a deal that would benefit all parties.\u00a0Parker stated he was willing to drop to 35% of the net profit. Higgins made a final offer to Hearn on 22 November. He told Sky Sports, \u201cIt\u2019s our final bottom line decision. We feel anything less is disrespectful or a disgrace.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0On 29 November, Hearn stated the fight could be confirmed within two weeks. Higgins listed Camp Nou<\/a> as the potential venue.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0According to Hearn on 11 December, a deal was very close to being announced with the Principality Stadium a frontrunner to host the fight. Hearn jokingly said they were over-paying Parker, with the deal being 65-35.<\/sup>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n