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TITLE: Anthony_Joshua
====================
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (/ˈænθəni/ AN-thuh-nee
/ˌɒluːwəˈfɛmi/ ol-oo-wuh-FEM-ee
/ˌɒləˈsɛni/ ol-uh-SEN-ee
/ˈdʒɒʃuə/ JOSH-oo-uh, born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a former two-time heavyweight champion having held the unified world heavyweight championship twice from 2017 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2021. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.

As an amateur, Joshua represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning the super-heavyweight silver medal. He also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning gold. In 2014, a year after turning professional, he was named Prospect of the Year by The Ring magazine.

In 2017, his victorious fight against Wladimir Klitschko was named Fight of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Early life

=================

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on 15 October 1989 in Watford, Hertfordshire, the son of British Nigerian parents Yeta and Robert Joshua. Joshua's Nigerian background can be specifically traced back to the Yoruba people, amongst whom he is of aristocratic rank. His cousin, Ben Ileyemi, is also a professional boxer. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.

Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria as a boarding school student at Mayflower School in Ikenne. Following his parents' divorce when he was 12, he returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, he was called "Femi" by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name, Oluwafemi. He excelled at football and athletics and broke his school's Year Nine 100 m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.

Amateur career

=================

A late starter in the sport, Joshua began boxing in 2007, aged 18, when his cousin suggested he take it up. His club, Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Derek Chisora. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua also won the senior ABA Championships in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down £50,000 to turn professional. "Turning down that £50,000 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. In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Championships after defeating Amin Isa. At the 2011 European Championships in June he beat the German Eric Brechlin 23:16 and the Irishman Cathal McMonagle 22:10 but was stopped by the Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several standing counts. In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain. Joshua had an amateur record of 40–3.

During the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning world and Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer, Magomedrasul Majidov winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games in the super-heavyweight division as a relative newcomer to the elite level of the sport.

Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics 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 Savón, ranked No. 4 in the world by AIBA and nephew of the three time Olympic champion Félix Savón. 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 whilst a few others taking the view that he had won on merit. In his next bout he fought 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist Zhang Zhilei, dropping his taller opponent in the middle round; Joshua won by 15:11 guaranteeing at least a bronze medal. In the semi-final Joshua met Kazakh boxer Ivan Dychko, and despite Joshua's height disadvantage he won by 13:11 to gain a place in the Olympic final. Joshua met 32-year-old reigning Olympic champion and former two-time world champion, Roberto Cammarelle 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. The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, being defined as a "home decision".

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing by Queen Elizabeth II, and later Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) on December 2018 in Queen's Birthday's Honours by then Prince Charles.

Highlights

=================

Professional career

=================

Early career

=================

On 11 July 2013 it was confirmed that Joshua had turned professional under the Matchroom Sport promotional banner. Joshua made his professional debut on 5 October 2013 at the O2 Arena in London in the Main-Event of a card featuring Scott Quigg's successful WBA (Regular) super-bantamweight title defence against Yoandris Salinas, beating Italian Emanuele Leo by a technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. Joshua's second fight was against English heavyweight Paul Butlin at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield on 26 October 2013. The bout was stopped in the second round when the referee decided Butlin was taking too much punishment and declared Joshua the winner by TKO. Joshua's third fight was on the Prizefighter Series card against Croatian Hrvoje Kišiček on 14 November 2013. Joshua got a TKO victory in the second round, achieving his third knockout (KO) victory in a row.

In February 2014, Joshua scored a second-round TKO victory over Dorian Darch to take his record to 4–0. The following month, on the undercard of Ricky Burns against Terence Crawford, Joshua defeated Hector Alfredo Avila with a first-round KO, in Glasgow, Scotland. In May that year Joshua knocked out Matt Legg in one round on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. George Groves II at Wembley Stadium. In Joshua's seventh fight, on 12 July 2014 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, he defeated Englishman Matt Skelton via second-round stoppage. In Joshua's eighth fight, on 13 September 2014, against German heavyweight Konstantin Airich, Joshua took his undefeated record to 8–0 with a third-round stoppage victory at the Manchester Arena.

Joshua was in the Main-Event of a Matchroom Sport card for the second time in his career, in his ninth professional appearance for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title against Dennis Bakhtov, the former champion looking to win the title for a second time, on 11 October 2014 at The O2 Arena in London. Joshua won the fight by KO in the second round, taking his record to 9–0 and winning the WBC International heavyweight title aged just 24.

In his tenth bout, on 22 November 2014, Joshua defeated Michael Sprott within the first round to extend his record to ten wins, all by stoppage. With the fight only lasting 1 minute and 26 seconds, it gave Joshua a total ring time in the professional ranks of just 36 minutes and 36 seconds.

He was supposed to face American boxer Kevin Johnson on 31 January 2015 at The O2 Arena in London, but the bout was cancelled after Joshua sustained a back injury. On 4 April 2015, Joshua beat Jason Gavern with a third-round KO in his return to the ring in Newcastle. On 9 May 2015, in his twelfth bout, Joshua defeated Raphael Zumbano Love in a second-round KO in Birmingham. On 30 May 2015, Joshua defeated former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (29–6–1, 14 KOs), inflicting the first stoppage in Johnson's career. After Johnson was saved by the bell in the first round the fight was stopped by the referee shortly after the beginning of the second round. Prior to the fight, Johnson had taken the likes of Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora the twelve-round distance. A day after the fight, Johnson announced his retirement, although he made a comeback in March 2017.

British and Commonwealth champion

=================

Joshua vs. Cornish

=================

On 16 July 2015, it was announced that Joshua would fight undefeated Scottish boxer Gary Cornish (21–0, 12 KOs) for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title at The O2 Arena, London, on 12 September. At the time of the fight, Cornish was the IBO Intercontinental champion. Joshua won the vacant title by stopping Cornish at just 90 seconds in the first round. Cornish was knocked down twice before the fight was officially stopped. In the post-fight, Joshua said, "Gary had a solid jab so I had to make sure I didn't take any of those shots. He was throwing a large jab and I tried to slip it. I managed to land the right hand and it was a perfect connection and he went down."

Joshua vs. Whyte

=================

Immediately after Joshua stopped Cornish, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed Dillian Whyte would next put his undefeated record on the line against Joshua. Joshua met Whyte in a grudge match for the vacant British heavyweight title on 12 December 2015, whilst also defending his Commonwealth heavyweight title for the first time. The fight took place on Sky Box Office. The two had previously fought within the amateur rankings in 2009 where Whyte had won. After surviving the first scare of his career in the second round, Joshua won the fight after initially shaking Whyte with a right hook to the temple and eventually finishing with a devastating uppercut for the KO in the seventh round. It is said that Joshua earned £3 million for this fight alone, as a result of signing a new five-year deal with Matchroom which sees him take a share of the PPV revenue earned.

IBF heavyweight champion

=================

Joshua vs. Martin

=================

In February 2016, it was announced that Joshua would face IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23–0–1, 21 KOs) on 9 April 2016 at the O2 Arena. Martin was making the first defence of the belt that he won after defeating Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant title in January 2016. Joshua set the pace in the first round and kept the southpaw Martin at bay before sending him to the canvas with a straight right hand in the second round. Martin got to his feet, only to be knocked down for a second time by a similar punch just moments later. This time Martin failed to beat the count after taking too long to get up, and the referee waved the fight off, with Joshua winning his first world title.

Martin was heavily criticized for his performance, and apparent lack of ambition to win the fight. Observers accused him of quitting early, feeling that he could have got up quicker and fought on. Martin later placed the blame on the pre-fight distractions, claiming that he was 'mentally not there'. At just 85 days, Martin's reign as IBF heavyweight champion was the second shortest in professional boxing history, with only Tony Tucker's 1987 reign being shorter.

Joshua vs. Breazeale

=================

Promoter Eddie Hearn announced a three-man shortlist from the IBF's top 15 ranked boxers for Joshua's first defence of his title. This included former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (25–1–2, 21 KOs) and Eric Molina (25–3, 19 KOs), both of whom were recently beaten by American WBC champion Deontay Wilder, alongside unbeaten upcoming fighter Dominic Breazeale (17–0, 15 KOs). On 25 April, it was announced that Joshua's next fight will be against Dominic Breazeale on 25 June 2016 at the O2 Arena in London. Breazeale was ranked 13th by the IBF, below British pair Derek Chisora and David Haye. Breazeale became only the second boxer, after Dillian Whyte, to take Joshua past three rounds. After a dominant performance, Joshua successfully defended his IBF heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout win. Breazeale was dropped heavily by a huge left hand. After the fight, Eddie Hearn said Joshua could next fight IBF mandatory challenger, Joseph Parker, around November. The fight averaged 289,000 viewers on Showtime in the afternoon. The card averaged 227,000 viewers.

A week after the fight was announced against Breazeale, Joshua announced a new multi-fight deal with US broadcaster Showtime. The fight screened live in the States by Showtime after they signed up as Joshua's exclusive US partner.

Joshua vs. Molina

=================

It was announced in August that Joshua would be making a second defence of his IBF title at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, on 26 November. This would mark the first time since September 2014 that Joshua would be fighting in the city. Possible names put forward for the fight were top IBF contenders Kubrat Pulev and Joseph Parker. Former unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko became the front-runner after his scheduled rematch with Tyson Fury was cancelled a second time.

A deal could not be finalized for Joshua vs. Klitschko, due to the WBA delaying a decision to sanction the fight and Klitschko injuring himself, which put the fight off completely. Klitschko said he would be looking to fight Joshua in the first quarter of 2017. Bryant Jennings and David Price were the names being pushed forward to fight Joshua next, however it was announced Joshua would be fighting at the Manchester Arena, defending his world title against former world title challenger Eric Molina (25–3, 19 KOs), who was coming off a stoppage victory against Tomasz Adamek, although being behind on the official scorecards. The fight was televised in the US live on Showtime. After two one sided rounds, which saw Molina hardly throw a punch, Joshua knocked Molina out in the third round. He was first dropped after a right hand to the jaw. Molina beat the count but was met with a flurry of punches, forcing referee Steve Gray to end the fight. According to Nielsen Media Research, the fight peaked at 390,000 on Showtime, with an average viewing of 368,000 viewers. On 22 May 2018, UK Anti-Doping issued Molina with a two-year ban from fighting in the UK, backdated from 28 October 2017 until 28 October 2019. Molina tested positive for dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, after his loss to Joshua. There was some controversy as Molina had fought twice after in 2017.

First reign as unified heavyweight champion

TITLE: Anthony_Joshua

====================

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (/ˈænθəni/ AN-thuh-nee

/ˌɒluːwəˈfɛmi/ ol-oo-wuh-FEM-ee

/ˌɒləˈsɛni/ ol-uh-SEN-ee

/ˈdʒɒʃuə/ JOSH-oo-uh, born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a former two-time heavyweight champion having held the unified world heavyweight championship twice from 2017 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2021. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.

As an amateur, Joshua represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning the super-heavyweight silver medal. He also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning gold. In 2014, a year after turning professional, he was named Prospect of the Year by The Ring magazine.

In 2017, his victorious fight against Wladimir Klitschko was named Fight of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Early life

=================

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on 15 October 1989 in Watford, Hertfordshire, the son of British Nigerian parents Yeta and Robert Joshua. Joshua's Nigerian background can be specifically traced back to the Yoruba people, amongst whom he is of aristocratic rank. His cousin, Ben Ileyemi, is also a professional boxer. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.

Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria as a boarding school student at Mayflower School in Ikenne. Following his parents' divorce when he was 12, he returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, he was called "Femi" by his friends and former teachers, due to his middle name, Oluwafemi. He excelled at football and athletics and broke his school's Year Nine 100 m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.

Amateur career

=================

A late starter in the sport, Joshua began boxing in 2007, aged 18, when his cousin suggested he take it up. His club, Finchley ABC in Barnet, North London, is also home to professional heavyweight Derek Chisora. Joshua won the 2009 and 2010 Haringey Box Cup. Joshua also won the senior ABA Championships in 2010, in only his 18th bout, and later turned down £50,000 to turn professional. "Turning down that £50,000 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. In 2010 his domestic success earned him a place on the GB Boxing team and later the same year he became British amateur champion at the GB Championships after defeating Amin Isa. At the 2011 European Championships in June he beat the German Eric Brechlin 23:16 and the Irishman Cathal McMonagle 22:10 but was stopped by the Romanian southpaw Mihai Nistor after receiving several standing counts. In October 2011 he was named Amateur Boxer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain. Joshua had an amateur record of 40–3.

During the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Joshua marked his sudden arrival on the world scene when he beat Italian reigning world and Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle, and went on to stop Erik Pfeifer of Germany in the semis before losing by a single point to local boxer, Magomedrasul Majidov winning a silver medal. En route to the final, Joshua secured his place at the 2012 Olympic Games in the super-heavyweight division as a relative newcomer to the elite level of the sport.

Joshua went into the 2012 London Olympics 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 Savón, ranked No. 4 in the world by AIBA and nephew of the three time Olympic champion Félix Savón. 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 whilst a few others taking the view that he had won on merit. In his next bout he fought 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist Zhang Zhilei, dropping his taller opponent in the middle round; Joshua won by 15:11 guaranteeing at least a bronze medal. In the semi-final Joshua met Kazakh boxer Ivan Dychko, and despite Joshua's height disadvantage he won by 13:11 to gain a place in the Olympic final. Joshua met 32-year-old reigning Olympic champion and former two-time world champion, Roberto Cammarelle 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. The final decision was criticised by some boxing experts, being defined as a "home decision".

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing by Queen Elizabeth II, and later Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) on December 2018 in Queen's Birthday's Honours by then Prince Charles.

Highlights

=================

Professional career

=================

Early career

=================

On 11 July 2013 it was confirmed that Joshua had turned professional under the Matchroom Sport promotional banner. Joshua made his professional debut on 5 October 2013 at the O2 Arena in London in the Main-Event of a card featuring Scott Quigg's successful WBA (Regular) super-bantamweight title defence against Yoandris Salinas, beating Italian Emanuele Leo by a technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. Joshua's second fight was against English heavyweight Paul Butlin at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield on 26 October 2013. The bout was stopped in the second round when the referee decided Butlin was taking too much punishment and declared Joshua the winner by TKO. Joshua's third fight was on the Prizefighter Series card against Croatian Hrvoje Kišiček on 14 November 2013. Joshua got a TKO victory in the second round, achieving his third knockout (KO) victory in a row.

In February 2014, Joshua scored a second-round TKO victory over Dorian Darch to take his record to 4–0. The following month, on the undercard of Ricky Burns against Terence Crawford, Joshua defeated Hector Alfredo Avila with a first-round KO, in Glasgow, Scotland. In May that year Joshua knocked out Matt Legg in one round on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. George Groves II at Wembley Stadium. In Joshua's seventh fight, on 12 July 2014 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, he defeated Englishman Matt Skelton via second-round stoppage. In Joshua's eighth fight, on 13 September 2014, against German heavyweight Konstantin Airich, Joshua took his undefeated record to 8–0 with a third-round stoppage victory at the Manchester Arena.

Joshua was in the Main-Event of a Matchroom Sport card for the second time in his career, in his ninth professional appearance for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title against Dennis Bakhtov, the former champion looking to win the title for a second time, on 11 October 2014 at The O2 Arena in London. Joshua won the fight by KO in the second round, taking his record to 9–0 and winning the WBC International heavyweight title aged just 24.

In his tenth bout, on 22 November 2014, Joshua defeated Michael Sprott within the first round to extend his record to ten wins, all by stoppage. With the fight only lasting 1 minute and 26 seconds, it gave Joshua a total ring time in the professional ranks of just 36 minutes and 36 seconds.

He was supposed to face American boxer Kevin Johnson on 31 January 2015 at The O2 Arena in London, but the bout was cancelled after Joshua sustained a back injury. On 4 April 2015, Joshua beat Jason Gavern with a third-round KO in his return to the ring in Newcastle. On 9 May 2015, in his twelfth bout, Joshua defeated Raphael Zumbano Love in a second-round KO in Birmingham. On 30 May 2015, Joshua defeated former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (29–6–1, 14 KOs), inflicting the first stoppage in Johnson's career. After Johnson was saved by the bell in the first round the fight was stopped by the referee shortly after the beginning of the second round. Prior to the fight, Johnson had taken the likes of Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora the twelve-round distance. A day after the fight, Johnson announced his retirement, although he made a comeback in March 2017.

British and Commonwealth champion

=================

Joshua vs. Cornish

=================

On 16 July 2015, it was announced that Joshua would fight undefeated Scottish boxer Gary Cornish (21–0, 12 KOs) for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title at The O2 Arena, London, on 12 September. At the time of the fight, Cornish was the IBO Intercontinental champion. Joshua won the vacant title by stopping Cornish at just 90 seconds in the first round. Cornish was knocked down twice before the fight was officially stopped. In the post-fight, Joshua said, "Gary had a solid jab so I had to make sure I didn't take any of those shots. He was throwing a large jab and I tried to slip it. I managed to land the right hand and it was a perfect connection and he went down."

Joshua vs. Whyte

=================

Immediately after Joshua stopped Cornish, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed Dillian Whyte would next put his undefeated record on the line against Joshua. Joshua met Whyte in a grudge match for the vacant British heavyweight title on 12 December 2015, whilst also defending his Commonwealth heavyweight title for the first time. The fight took place on Sky Box Office. The two had previously fought within the amateur rankings in 2009 where Whyte had won. After surviving the first scare of his career in the second round, Joshua won the fight after initially shaking Whyte with a right hook to the temple and eventually finishing with a devastating uppercut for the KO in the seventh round. It is said that Joshua earned £3 million for this fight alone, as a result of signing a new five-year deal with Matchroom which sees him take a share of the PPV revenue earned.

IBF heavyweight champion

=================

Joshua vs. Martin

=================

In February 2016, it was announced that Joshua would face IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23–0–1, 21 KOs) on 9 April 2016 at the O2 Arena. Martin was making the first defence of the belt that he won after defeating Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant title in January 2016. Joshua set the pace in the first round and kept the southpaw Martin at bay before sending him to the canvas with a straight right hand in the second round. Martin got to his feet, only to be knocked down for a second time by a similar punch just moments later. This time Martin failed to beat the count after taking too long to get up, and the referee waved the fight off, with Joshua winning his first world title.

Martin was heavily criticized for his performance, and apparent lack of ambition to win the fight. Observers accused him of quitting early, feeling that he could have got up quicker and fought on. Martin later placed the blame on the pre-fight distractions, claiming that he was 'mentally not there'. At just 85 days, Martin's reign as IBF heavyweight champion was the second shortest in professional boxing history, with only Tony Tucker's 1987 reign being shorter.

Joshua vs. Breazeale

=================

Promoter Eddie Hearn announced a three-man shortlist from the IBF's top 15 ranked boxers for Joshua's first defence of his title. This included former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (25–1–2, 21 KOs) and Eric Molina (25–3, 19 KOs), both of whom were recently beaten by American WBC champion Deontay Wilder, alongside unbeaten upcoming fighter Dominic Breazeale (17–0, 15 KOs). On 25 April, it was announced that Joshua's next fight will be against Dominic Breazeale on 25 June 2016 at the O2 Arena in London. Breazeale was ranked 13th by the IBF, below British pair Derek Chisora and David Haye. Breazeale became only the second boxer, after Dillian Whyte, to take Joshua past three rounds. After a dominant performance, Joshua successfully defended his IBF heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout win. Breazeale was dropped heavily by a huge left hand. After the fight, Eddie Hearn said Joshua could next fight IBF mandatory challenger, Joseph Parker, around November. The fight averaged 289,000 viewers on Showtime in the afternoon. The card averaged 227,000 viewers.

A week after the fight was announced against Breazeale, Joshua announced a new multi-fight deal with US broadcaster Showtime. The fight screened live in the States by Showtime after they signed up as Joshua's exclusive US partner.

Joshua vs. Molina

=================

It was announced in August that Joshua would be making a second defence of his IBF title at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, on 26 November. This would mark the first time since September 2014 that Joshua would be fighting in the city. Possible names put forward for the fight were top IBF contenders Kubrat Pulev and Joseph Parker. Former unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko became the front-runner after his scheduled rematch with Tyson Fury was cancelled a second time.

A deal could not be finalized for Joshua vs. Klitschko, due to the WBA delaying a decision to sanction the fight and Klitschko injuring himself, which put the fight off completely. Klitschko said he would be looking to fight Joshua in the first quarter of 2017. Bryant Jennings and David Price were the names being pushed forward to fight Joshua next, however it was announced Joshua would be fighting at the Manchester Arena, defending his world title against former world title challenger Eric Molina (25–3, 19 KOs), who was coming off a stoppage victory against Tomasz Adamek, although being behind on the official scorecards. The fight was televised in the US live on Showtime. After two one sided rounds, which saw Molina hardly throw a punch, Joshua knocked Molina out in the third round. He was first dropped after a right hand to the jaw. Molina beat the count but was met with a flurry of punches, forcing referee Steve Gray to end the fight. According to Nielsen Media Research, the fight peaked at 390,000 on Showtime, with an average viewing of 368,000 viewers. On 22 May 2018, UK Anti-Doping issued Molina with a two-year ban from fighting in the UK, backdated from 28 October 2017 until 28 October 2019. Molina tested positive for dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, after his loss to Joshua. There was some controversy as Molina had fought twice after in 2017.

First reign as unified heavyweight champion