The gong sounded and the two opponents were looking at each other sternly. The strongest men of history would soon attack each other with hooks and uppercuts to become the most invincible.
Anthony Joshua, boxing's new star, had new charisma, and according to many, the 'new Muhammad Ali' would be this young boy. Besides being handsome and charismatic, he was someone who knew how to talk and was confident to achieve his goals.
There was one thing that Joshua was clearly aware of; if he wanted to be at the top, no one should think of the past and he would have to sweep away all his opponents in the ring.
HE OPENED HIS EYES TO THE WORLD IN ENGLAND
The boxer, whose full name is Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, was born in 1989 in Watford, England. Joshua's mother is Nigerian and his father is Irish. Some of Joshua's childhood years were spent in Nigeria. While studying at Kings Langley Secondary School, his physical education teacher noticed the light in him. Thus, Joshua took his first step into sports through athletics. The physical education teacher wasn't the only one who noticed the star in him. Famous boxer Ben Llyemi also noticed this light. Moreover, Llyemi was Joshua's cousin. With Llyemi's encouragement, the charismatic young man stepped into boxing in 2007.
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua OBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles twice between 2016 and 2021. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title twice during that reign. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.
The young giant, who entered boxing very quickly, won the Haringey Box Cup in 2009 and 2010. After winning the ABA championship in 2010, Anthony turned down the 50 thousand pounds offered to turn professional. In his statement, Joshua said, "It is too early to turn professional, I am not showing off, my goal is to get medals and championships, I do not do sports for money, I am waiting for the right time."
Joshua won the championship again a year later and qualified for the Great Britain team. In 2011, he was selected as 'Amateur Boxer of the Year' by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain. Joshua's record during his amateur years is 40 wins and 3 losses.
Joshua won the gold medal in front of his home crowd at the 2012 London Olympics and stepped into professional boxing a year later. He had now determined the right time.
A LIGHT OUT OF THE DARKNESS
When he was 18, Anthony was imprisoned in Reading prison for two weeks for his involvement in street fighting. It was here that he would realize the gem within him. Those two weeks felt like decades for Joshua. Anthony talked about those days as follows: "It was terrible inside. When I got in there, I realized what a mistake I had made. You had no value inside, your life depended on the flip of a coin. If the court found me guilty, I would be in prison for 10 years. I would stay behind bars until I was 28. … When I learned that I was spared from this punishment that would ruin my life, I made a promise to myself that I would not make the same mistakes again."
The first decision he made with the monitoring device attached to his ankle was to give his life to boxing. He disciplined his life. He sleeps at a certain time and wakes up at a certain time. He was careful about his diet and read books to improve himself intellectually. He was motivating himself by saying he was a great athlete. He constantly thought of his achievements. He thought that he could run 100 meters in 11 seconds, did great things while playing football, and had a magnificent physique. The light had appeared for Anthony Joshua.
PROFESSIONAL YEARS
He made his professional debut in 2013 against Italian Leo. He was almost invincible. His pencil-drawn muscles and charisma that impressed everyone were accompanied by rapid punches. Only White and Breazeale were able to last more than 3 rounds for this new unbeaten.
Joshua had his eye on Muhammad Ali. He would give everything to catch the world boxing legend, whom he identified as his only idol. April 9, 2016, was the first of these. The opponent was Charles Martin, and if he won, he would capture the IBF belt as the world champion. It was not difficult at all to get this belt that Fury left behind. He quickly knocked out Martin and won his new belt. Moreover, he became the World Champion 9 months before Ali.
The new kid had earned the respect of all the boxers, and perhaps their fear as well... He is fast, quick, strong, and agile. Joshua described himself by saying, "I am not someone who flies from his corner like Tyson, I wait for the right time and when that moment comes, I finish this job." Joshua shined very quickly and was named Sportsman of the Year by a famous magazine in 2016. However, the boxing community thought that Joshua did not face a real opponent in the title match and that he did not face any opponent other than matches to shine.
SIGNATURE MATCH
Joshua was looking forward to the match in which he would respond to the reactions. He would step into the ring with heavyweight legend Wladimir Klitschko on April 29, 2017. Before the giant match at Wembley, Anthony was already giving the signal that this match would happen one day. "Yes, I admire Klitschko, but the real champions are those who dethrone the king before them. I must finish Wladimir, just like Tyson did to Berbick," he said. Before this huge match, Klitschko said that chances, equal height, weight, etc. were just numbers.
90 thousand people came to Wembley to watch this match that will go down among the legends. The fight started head-to-head, exactly as expected. After the ongoing rounds, Anthony Joshua won the match with a technical knockout and became the new owner of the WBA, IBF, and IBO belts. Behind Wladimir, he managed to defend his titles by defeating Carlos Takam in front of 80 thousand people in Cardiff. He wanted to complete the missing belts and Joshua had his sights set on the WBO belt. His opponent was New Zealander, Joseph Parker. Joshua, who had a points advantage over his opponent in Wales, was collecting the belts one by one.
IS THE LAST REMAINING BELT THE START OF THE DECLINE?
Anthony Joshua now wanted to complete the series by taking the WBC belt. He wanted to collect all the belts in his hands to prove that he was the new Ali. And this belt belonged to Tyson Fury. If he beat Wilder, he would be eligible to face Fury. Wilder, unlike his other rivals, was the type who did not give up. However, the date of the match could not be determined. Joshua did not want to waste his time and arranged a match with former world champion Povetkin. Joshua also won this match with a technical knockout. The Wilder match was the only target in this process. Before the Wilder match, Joshua wanted to gather spectators in the USA outside his own country. This job fell to Eddie Hearn. In America, Joshua would face Andy Ruiz Junior. Ruiz, who stood out with his weight, was chosen at the last moment and was not given any chance against Joshua. In this match that no one took seriously, Ruiz shocked the whole world in Madison Square Garden. Mexican Ruiz defeated Joshua and won the match with a technical knockout. The entire boxing community, including Joshua, and the entire world were shocked.
Everyone was starting to think Joshua was a balloon. Anthony was subjected to heavy criticism and was greatly affected psychologically. He decided again that he should fight the Mexican again before Wilder and get his reputation back. Joshua faced Ruiz again in Saudi Arabia and won the match by the referee's decision and regained his titles. However, he could not establish an advantage that would disperse the fog. However, the expected Joshua-Wilder match never took place.
MUHAMMED ALI'S DREAM ENDED WITH USYK
Unable to face Wilder, Joshua chose Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk as his opponent on his way to becoming the new Ali. His opponent is Usyk, who won all the matches he competed in... And Joshua put an end to his illustrious career.
A new shock for Joshua... Usyk won the match and took all the belts from Joshua. The new champion was Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk. However, Anthony could not give up, he had come this far and wanted a rematch from Usyk. The gong sounded again in front of 35 thousand people in Saudi Arabia. Joshua had one last chance to collect all the belts.
Even though there was no knockout in the match, USYK won again with the referee's points. Now Joshua was completely devastated. The Ukrainians managed to retain all the belts. If Joshua had won the match, he would have gone down in history as the second person to become a 3-time heavyweight world champion, like his greatest idol Ali. Unable to control his tears at the press conference after the match, Anthony said, "I'm so sorry, I don't feel anything, the depths of my heart hurt."
Anthony, who has been dealing with injuries since that day, is playing matches to get back to his old days. Who knows, maybe one day he will collect the belts again and become a champion...