Fishfishfishfishfish/wikipedia_data · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 3.78k
On 29 September 2021, four days after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Joshua to become unified world heavyweight champion, it was announced by his promoter Alexander Krassyuk that a one-sided rematch clause which had been specified in the fight contract had "already been activated in principle, from the side of Joshua." Krassyuk noted that Usyk relished the prospect of squaring off against Joshua twice: "So I remember when we discussed with Oleksandr the issue of rematch, he was delighted and said 'Wow, cool, I will beat Antokha [sic] twice.'" Regarding the venue of the rematch, Usyk made it known that he hoped it would take place in his native country of Ukraine, saying, "I would love to have the rematch at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv." However, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, stated that Ukraine was a "very unlikely" venue, as he wanted to maximise income: "I think it will be international or the UK, I would think it would be in the UK." On 19 June 2022, it was officially announced that Usyk would be facing Joshua in a rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 20 August. The fight would mark the first defence of Usyk's world heavyweight titles, while it was Joshua's twelfth consecutive world heavyweight title fight as he attempted to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.

Despite Joshua's improved performance compared to his first loss to Usyk, the latter successfully defended his belts by a split decision with one judge scoring the fight 115–113 to Joshua, while the other two judges scoring it 115–113 and 116–112 in Usyk's favour. According to New York Times statistics, Joshua landed 37 body punches compared to 15 in their first fight. Overall, however, Usyk outperformed Joshua, landing 170 of 712 punches, compared with 124 of 492 for Joshua. According to CompuBox, Usyk established new records for punches landed by an Anthony Joshua opponent (170) and most punches landed on Joshua in a single round (39 punches in the 10th round). After the announcement of the judges' scorecards, Joshua threw two of Usyk's belts out of the ring and started to walk out of the arena, but came back and once in control of the microphone gave an emotional speech, talking about his life, fighting, Ukraine, and praising Usyk. Onlookers were surprised and didn't seem to know how to act when Anthony gave his unusual speech. In the speech Anthony Joshua spoke about how hard he had had life and wasn't given the opportunities in the amateurs as Usyk was. He spoke about how people criticised him and asked why he didn't throw combinations like a much smaller Rocky Marciano. Shortly after, Joshua was recorded backstage responding to a bystander who had criticised him, yelling: "Who are you talking to? Who are you talking to? Shut your fucking mouth." In the post-fight press conference, Joshua broke down in tears.

Joshua vs. Franklin

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

On 6 February 2023, it was officially announced that Joshua would be returning to the ring on 1 April at The O2 Arena against Jermaine Franklin. The fight would mark the first fight as part of his exclusive five-year deal with sports streaming service DAZN. In the first pre-fight press conference on 9 February, Joshua announced his new partnership with American trainer Derrick James, as well as being questioned by his promoter Eddie Hearn on his motivation for fighting. Joshua answered by repeatedly stating, "Money, money, money", before Hearn had finished asking the question, before further elaborating: "I like making money. Straight up. Like, this is a prizefighting sport."

Joshua weighed in at a career-heaviest 255+1⁄4 pounds (115.8 kg), while Franklin weighed in at 234+3⁄4 pounds (106.5 kg), over 22 pounds (10.0 kg) lighter than his previous fight against Dillian Whyte. On the night, Joshua had a tentative performance, initiating constant clinches. Despite a particularly cautious start to the fight, he made use of his jab to set up power punches with his right hand, prevailing via unanimous decision, with judges' scorecards of 117–111 (twice) and 118–111 in his favour. After the final bell, the two men engaged in a light scuffle in the ring, coming close to brawling. The altercation was initiated by Joshua, who had tapped Franklin in the back of his head while Franklin had turned his back to walk away. In his post-fight interview, Joshua expressed his desire to face undefeated WBC champion Tyson Fury next, saying, "I would be 100 percent honoured to compete for the WBC championship of the world."

Joshua vs. Helenius

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

On 6 July 2023 Dillian Whyte vs. Anthony Joshua II, a rematch of the 12 December 2015 bout. was announced to be held at The O2 Arena in London. This was cancelled on 5 August 2023, after Whyte returned a positive drug test conducted by the voluntary anti-doping agency. On 8 August 2023, Robert Helenius was announced as the replacement for Whyte, with the bout taking place on the originally scheduled date of 12 August 2023. Joshua won the bout by knockout due to a right hook in round 7.

Joshua vs. Wallin

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

In October 2023, reports stated that Joshua could potentially face Deontay Wilder on 23 December on the same card alongside Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. On 11 November however, reports then stated that Joshua and Wilder would both be fighting on 23 December but against different opponents. On 15 November, it was announced that Joshua would face Otto Wallin on 23 December while Wilder would face Joseph Parker as the co-feature bout. Joshua defeated Wallin by RTD after Wallin's corner decided not to let the fighter continue after round 5.

Joshua vs. Ngannou

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

Joshua faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion and newly ranked #10 in the WBC Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 8 March 2024. He knocked down Ngannou in the first round, and won by second-round knockout.

Joshua vs. Dubois

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

On 26 June 2024, IBF interim heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was elevated to full IBF champion after the title was vacated by former opponent, Oleksandr Usyk. On the same day, it was announced that Joshua would be challenging Dubois for the title on 21 September 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London, in what would be Joshua's thirteenth world title fight.

The fighters weighed in the day before their fight in front of Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square, in London. Joshua weighed in at 252.5 pounds (114.5 kg), almost 4 pounds (1.8 kg) heavier than Dubois' weight of 248.6 pounds (112.8 kg). This was marginally heavier for Joshua compared to his fight against Francis Ngannou 6 months previously, while Dubois' weight was a new career-heaviest for him, 3 pounds (1.4 kg) heavier than his previous record.

Dubois, despite being the reigning IBF champion, walked to the ring first "very composed, almost seemingly too relaxed" whilst Joshua entered the ring second and "seemed tight during his ring walk", according to Joseph Santoliquito of The Ring. Joshua lost the fight by knockout in the fifth round, being dropped in the first, third, fourth and fifth rounds. The result was considered a major upset, as Dubois was the pre-betting underdog going into fight. Dubois immediately started boxing aggressively, and knocked Joshua to the canvas at the end of the first round with a huge overhand right to Joshua's chin. Joshua was able to beat the count, but seemed to be on unsteady legs as the bell signalled the end of the first round. Momentum seemed to be in Dubois' favour, and he knocked Joshua down for the second time in round 3 with a left to the chin: Joshua's gloves had touched the canvas, but the referee allowed Dubois to continue unloading punches which eventually did trigger an official knockdown. The fourth round saw Joshua hit the canvas twice more, although one of those occasions was ruled a slip. In the fifth round, Joshua seemed to find a way back into the fight when he landed a right hand which seemed to force Dubois back into a corner. However, Dubois caught Joshua on the chin with a counter right hand as Joshua was attempting to land a right uppercut of his own, which sent Joshua sprawling to the canvas again, and this time unable to beat the count. The fight was called off after 59 seconds of the fifth round, with Dubois retaining his IBF heavyweight title via fifth round knockout. Over the five rounds, Dubois landed 79 of his 196 punches thrown with a connect rate of 40% and Joshua landed only 32 of his 117 punches thrown with a connect rate of 27%.

Joshua vs. Paul

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

In July 2025, Eddie Hearn discussed a possible fight between Joshua and Jake Paul, noting the increasing interest following Paul's earlier call-out to Joshua. He mentioned that conversations were ongoing with Turki Alalshikh. He said, "You know, obviously it'll be up to AJ and myself what AJ does, and [Most Valuable Promotions CEO] Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake, what they do – but also the power of Turki Alalshikh bringing it together, making it a mega-event. We're up for it. You know, it's not a fight we targeted. It's not a fight we anticipated. But as I said, if it's there and it's open and it's a running-up fight before Tyson Fury, why not?"

On 8 August, it was announced that Joshua would return to the ring in December 2025. One potential opponent was French Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka (14–3, 11 KOs). French promoter Yohan Zaoui was confident that Joshua would fight Yoka next, but according to Hearn, Paul was the "front-runner" for Joshua's next fight. On 20 August, Paul announced an exhibition fight against lightweight boxer Gervonta Davis to take place in November 2025. Two weeks prior to their fight, Davis was mentioned in a civil lawsuit that accused him of violent behaviour, battery, and kidnapping. On 4 November, Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix announced the cancellation of the card.

On November 12, The Ring reported that both Joshua and Paul were finalizing a deal to fight in December in Miami, to be streamed on Netflix. Negotiations were challenging due to Joshua being tied to DAZN and Paul wanting to use Netflix. Following the cancellation of the Davis fight, Paul began recruiting heavyweight sparring partners to prepare for his next fight.

On 17 November 2025, Most Valuable Promotions announced that Paul was scheduled to fight Joshua on 19 December at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, in an eight-round sanctioned match with 10oz gloves, to be broadcast by Netflix. Joshua told Forbes that he accepted the bout because it presented a major opportunity for global attention and high viewership, saying he intended to "do massive numbers" and "break the internet" with the event. The fight represented a significant challenge for Paul, who had previously competed primarily as a cruiserweight and had considerably less professional experience than Joshua, who is known for his extensive boxing background and power. The fight marked Joshua's first in the United States since his defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. During fight week, DraftKings listed Joshua as a 12–1 favorite. Joshua wanted to achieve a decisive victory similar to his second-round knockout of Francis Ngannou in March 2024, stating it was not personal. It was the first time Joshua had to make weight (245 pounds [111 kg]) in his professional career. He weighed in at 243.4 pounds (110.4 kg), his lightest since 2021, where he weighed 240 pounds (110 kg). Paul weighed in at 216.6 pounds (98.2 kg). After weighing in, Joshua joked, "I can't wait to eat."

Joshua dropped Paul four times, defeated him via sixth-round knockout, after challenging early rounds. In the opening rounds, Paul used a defensive strategy, moving away from Joshua to avoid any engagement. This helped prolong the fight. The ending came in the sixth round, when Joshua landed a straight right followed with a right-left combination, knocking Paul down for the time at 1 minute 31 seconds. Paul attempted to get up but the referee counted him out as he reached his feet.

In his post-fight interview, Joshua admitted, "it wasn't the best performance", before calling out his long-time British rival, former two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, saying "if Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there that will take on any challenge, step into the ring with me next if you're a real bad boy." According to CompuBox, Joshua landed 48 of 146 punches (33%), while Paul landed with just 16 of his 56 shots (29%). The fight received significant viewership success for Netflix, attracting 33 million viewers globally.

Public image

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

Joshua is recognised as one of the most marketable athletes in the world, and has lucrative endorsement deals with numerous brands, including Under Armour, Beats By Dre, and Lucozade. In 2017, he was ranked as the world's most marketable athlete, ahead of basketball player Stephen Curry, who was ranked most marketable the previous year. Along with his boxing ability, this has been attributed to his "rags to riches" story, enforcing a narrative that he avoided a life of violence and crime by dedicating himself to boxing. Joshua has spoken of his ambition to surpass Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s reported career earnings of $700 million, saying in an interview with GQ, "When I first started, the aim was to become a multi-millionaire. But now there are ordinary people, grandmas and grandads, who are worth millions just because of property prices. So the new school of thought is that I need to be a billionaire. Being a millionaire is good but you have to set your sights higher."

Joshua has also been recognised with his inclusion in the annual Powerlist as one of the 100 most influential Black Britons, most recently in the 2021 edition. He has a tattoo of the continent of Africa on his right shoulder, with the territory of Nigeria outlined, and says he feels a strong connection to his Nigerian roots. In addition, he has entered the ring in multiple fights prominently displaying the flag of Nigeria.

Joshua's manager, Freddie Cunningham, has supported him throughout all his professional career, and is referred to as his "right hand man". Cunningham co-founded Joshua's own management company, 258MGT.

In August 2022, Joshua faced questions around the controversy of his world-title challenge taking place in Saudi Arabia. He was also questioned about the human rights situation in the Kingdom, after the Arab authorities sentenced a 34-year-old woman for 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity. However, he said that people were "loving the positive side of things" and they "don't focus on anything that's negative". Yasser al-Khayat, whose brother Mustafa was executed by Saudi authorities, also wrote a letter to Joshua and urged him to stand up for the human rights. He wrote to Joshua that speaking out could make a real difference, as Saudi uses the events like boxing "to distract from its oppression".

Personal life

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

Joshua fathered a son named Joseph "JJ" Joshua, with dance teacher Nicole Osbourne, in 2015.

Joshua has expressed an interest in chess as well as reading as a way to reinforce his boxing and tactical abilities. He was a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time.

Joshua previously stated in 2012 that he does not support a football team, but when asked in an interview in 2017, he said that although he supports his local team Watford F.C., his "overall favourite" team was Real Madrid C.F. because of Cristiano Ronaldo, as Ronaldo was a Real Madrid player at the time. In the same interview, he also described English footballer Troy Deeney, who he met by chance at a local barbershop in his hometown Watford, as his "good friend".

In an interview with iFL TV in July 2014, Joshua named Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield as his top five greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time.

In 2020, Joshua spoke about his positive relationship with his longtime promoter Eddie Hearn, who has promoted him since his professional debut in 2013, saying that he "and Eddie will always have a great friendship."

In 2023, Joshua joined the investment group of the French Alpine racing team of Formula One.

December 2025 car crash

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

On 29 December 2025, Joshua was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway near the Sinoma area close to Sagamu, Ogun State, while travelling as a passenger in a Lexus LX570. The collision resulted in the deaths of two people, later identified as his personal trainer Latif "Latz" Ayodele and his strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami, both also close friends of Joshua. Joshua was rescued from the vehicle by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and taken to the Duchess International Hospital, where he was treated for injuries reported to be non-life-threatening.

According to a statement released by the FRSC, the LX570 in which Joshua was travelling struck a stationary red commercial Sinotruk truck that was parked by the roadside. Preliminary findings indicated that the vehicle was suspected to have been travelling above the speed limit and lost control during an overtaking manoeuvre, which resulted in the collision.

Legal issues

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

In 2009, Joshua was put on remand in Reading Prison for what he describes as "fighting and other crazy stuff." He was made to wear an electronic tag on his ankle when released.

In March 2011, Joshua was pulled over by the police for speeding in Colindale, North West London. He was found with eight ounces (226.8 grams) of herbal cannabis hidden in a sports bag in his Mercedes-Benz. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug, an offence that carries a maximum 14-year sentence. Joshua was suspended from the GB Boxing squad and was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work after pleading guilty at crown court.

On 29 September 2021, four days after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Joshua to become unified world heavyweight champion, it was announced by his promoter Alexander Krassyuk that a one-sided rematch clause which had been specified in the fight contract had "already been activated in principle, from the side of Joshua." Krassyuk noted that Usyk relished the prospect of squaring off against Joshua twice: "So I remember when we discussed with Oleksandr the issue of rematch, he was delighted and said 'Wow, cool, I will beat Antokha [sic] twice.'" Regarding the venue of the rematch, Usyk made it known that he hoped it would take place in his native country of Ukraine, saying, "I would love to have the rematch at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv." However, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, stated that Ukraine was a "very unlikely" venue, as he wanted to maximise income: "I think it will be international or the UK, I would think it would be in the UK." On 19 June 2022, it was officially announced that Usyk would be facing Joshua in a rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 20 August. The fight would mark the first defence of Usyk's world heavyweight titles, while it was Joshua's twelfth consecutive world heavyweight title fight as he attempted to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.

Despite Joshua's improved performance compared to his first loss to Usyk, the latter successfully defended his belts by a split decision with one judge scoring the fight 115–113 to Joshua, while the other two judges scoring it 115–113 and 116–112 in Usyk's favour. According to New York Times statistics, Joshua landed 37 body punches compared to 15 in their first fight. Overall, however, Usyk outperformed Joshua, landing 170 of 712 punches, compared with 124 of 492 for Joshua. According to CompuBox, Usyk established new records for punches landed by an Anthony Joshua opponent (170) and most punches landed on Joshua in a single round (39 punches in the 10th round). After the announcement of the judges' scorecards, Joshua threw two of Usyk's belts out of the ring and started to walk out of the arena, but came back and once in control of the microphone gave an emotional speech, talking about his life, fighting, Ukraine, and praising Usyk. Onlookers were surprised and didn't seem to know how to act when Anthony gave his unusual speech. In the speech Anthony Joshua spoke about how hard he had had life and wasn't given the opportunities in the amateurs as Usyk was. He spoke about how people criticised him and asked why he didn't throw combinations like a much smaller Rocky Marciano. Shortly after, Joshua was recorded backstage responding to a bystander who had criticised him, yelling: "Who are you talking to? Who are you talking to? Shut your fucking mouth." In the post-fight press conference, Joshua broke down in tears.

Joshua vs. Franklin

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

On 6 February 2023, it was officially announced that Joshua would be returning to the ring on 1 April at The O2 Arena against Jermaine Franklin. The fight would mark the first fight as part of his exclusive five-year deal with sports streaming service DAZN. In the first pre-fight press conference on 9 February, Joshua announced his new partnership with American trainer Derrick James, as well as being questioned by his promoter Eddie Hearn on his motivation for fighting. Joshua answered by repeatedly stating, "Money, money, money", before Hearn had finished asking the question, before further elaborating: "I like making money. Straight up. Like, this is a prizefighting sport."

Joshua weighed in at a career-heaviest 255+1⁄4 pounds (115.8 kg), while Franklin weighed in at 234+3⁄4 pounds (106.5 kg), over 22 pounds (10.0 kg) lighter than his previous fight against Dillian Whyte. On the night, Joshua had a tentative performance, initiating constant clinches. Despite a particularly cautious start to the fight, he made use of his jab to set up power punches with his right hand, prevailing via unanimous decision, with judges' scorecards of 117–111 (twice) and 118–111 in his favour. After the final bell, the two men engaged in a light scuffle in the ring, coming close to brawling. The altercation was initiated by Joshua, who had tapped Franklin in the back of his head while Franklin had turned his back to walk away. In his post-fight interview, Joshua expressed his desire to face undefeated WBC champion Tyson Fury next, saying, "I would be 100 percent honoured to compete for the WBC championship of the world."

Joshua vs. Helenius

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

On 6 July 2023 Dillian Whyte vs. Anthony Joshua II, a rematch of the 12 December 2015 bout. was announced to be held at The O2 Arena in London. This was cancelled on 5 August 2023, after Whyte returned a positive drug test conducted by the voluntary anti-doping agency. On 8 August 2023, Robert Helenius was announced as the replacement for Whyte, with the bout taking place on the originally scheduled date of 12 August 2023. Joshua won the bout by knockout due to a right hook in round 7.

Joshua vs. Wallin

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

In October 2023, reports stated that Joshua could potentially face Deontay Wilder on 23 December on the same card alongside Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. On 11 November however, reports then stated that Joshua and Wilder would both be fighting on 23 December but against different opponents. On 15 November, it was announced that Joshua would face Otto Wallin on 23 December while Wilder would face Joseph Parker as the co-feature bout. Joshua defeated Wallin by RTD after Wallin's corner decided not to let the fighter continue after round 5.

Joshua vs. Ngannou

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

Joshua faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion and newly ranked #10 in the WBC Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 8 March 2024. He knocked down Ngannou in the first round, and won by second-round knockout.

Joshua vs. Dubois

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

On 26 June 2024, IBF interim heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was elevated to full IBF champion after the title was vacated by former opponent, Oleksandr Usyk. On the same day, it was announced that Joshua would be challenging Dubois for the title on 21 September 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London, in what would be Joshua's thirteenth world title fight.

The fighters weighed in the day before their fight in front of Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square, in London. Joshua weighed in at 252.5 pounds (114.5 kg), almost 4 pounds (1.8 kg) heavier than Dubois' weight of 248.6 pounds (112.8 kg). This was marginally heavier for Joshua compared to his fight against Francis Ngannou 6 months previously, while Dubois' weight was a new career-heaviest for him, 3 pounds (1.4 kg) heavier than his previous record.

Dubois, despite being the reigning IBF champion, walked to the ring first "very composed, almost seemingly too relaxed" whilst Joshua entered the ring second and "seemed tight during his ring walk", according to Joseph Santoliquito of The Ring. Joshua lost the fight by knockout in the fifth round, being dropped in the first, third, fourth and fifth rounds. The result was considered a major upset, as Dubois was the pre-betting underdog going into fight. Dubois immediately started boxing aggressively, and knocked Joshua to the canvas at the end of the first round with a huge overhand right to Joshua's chin. Joshua was able to beat the count, but seemed to be on unsteady legs as the bell signalled the end of the first round. Momentum seemed to be in Dubois' favour, and he knocked Joshua down for the second time in round 3 with a left to the chin: Joshua's gloves had touched the canvas, but the referee allowed Dubois to continue unloading punches which eventually did trigger an official knockdown. The fourth round saw Joshua hit the canvas twice more, although one of those occasions was ruled a slip. In the fifth round, Joshua seemed to find a way back into the fight when he landed a right hand which seemed to force Dubois back into a corner. However, Dubois caught Joshua on the chin with a counter right hand as Joshua was attempting to land a right uppercut of his own, which sent Joshua sprawling to the canvas again, and this time unable to beat the count. The fight was called off after 59 seconds of the fifth round, with Dubois retaining his IBF heavyweight title via fifth round knockout. Over the five rounds, Dubois landed 79 of his 196 punches thrown with a connect rate of 40% and Joshua landed only 32 of his 117 punches thrown with a connect rate of 27%.

Joshua vs. Paul

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

In July 2025, Eddie Hearn discussed a possible fight between Joshua and Jake Paul, noting the increasing interest following Paul's earlier call-out to Joshua. He mentioned that conversations were ongoing with Turki Alalshikh. He said, "You know, obviously it'll be up to AJ and myself what AJ does, and [Most Valuable Promotions CEO] Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake, what they do – but also the power of Turki Alalshikh bringing it together, making it a mega-event. We're up for it. You know, it's not a fight we targeted. It's not a fight we anticipated. But as I said, if it's there and it's open and it's a running-up fight before Tyson Fury, why not?"

On 8 August, it was announced that Joshua would return to the ring in December 2025. One potential opponent was French Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka (14–3, 11 KOs). French promoter Yohan Zaoui was confident that Joshua would fight Yoka next, but according to Hearn, Paul was the "front-runner" for Joshua's next fight. On 20 August, Paul announced an exhibition fight against lightweight boxer Gervonta Davis to take place in November 2025. Two weeks prior to their fight, Davis was mentioned in a civil lawsuit that accused him of violent behaviour, battery, and kidnapping. On 4 November, Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix announced the cancellation of the card.

On November 12, The Ring reported that both Joshua and Paul were finalizing a deal to fight in December in Miami, to be streamed on Netflix. Negotiations were challenging due to Joshua being tied to DAZN and Paul wanting to use Netflix. Following the cancellation of the Davis fight, Paul began recruiting heavyweight sparring partners to prepare for his next fight.

On 17 November 2025, Most Valuable Promotions announced that Paul was scheduled to fight Joshua on 19 December at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, in an eight-round sanctioned match with 10oz gloves, to be broadcast by Netflix. Joshua told Forbes that he accepted the bout because it presented a major opportunity for global attention and high viewership, saying he intended to "do massive numbers" and "break the internet" with the event. The fight represented a significant challenge for Paul, who had previously competed primarily as a cruiserweight and had considerably less professional experience than Joshua, who is known for his extensive boxing background and power. The fight marked Joshua's first in the United States since his defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. During fight week, DraftKings listed Joshua as a 12–1 favorite. Joshua wanted to achieve a decisive victory similar to his second-round knockout of Francis Ngannou in March 2024, stating it was not personal. It was the first time Joshua had to make weight (245 pounds [111 kg]) in his professional career. He weighed in at 243.4 pounds (110.4 kg), his lightest since 2021, where he weighed 240 pounds (110 kg). Paul weighed in at 216.6 pounds (98.2 kg). After weighing in, Joshua joked, "I can't wait to eat."

Joshua dropped Paul four times, defeated him via sixth-round knockout, after challenging early rounds. In the opening rounds, Paul used a defensive strategy, moving away from Joshua to avoid any engagement. This helped prolong the fight. The ending came in the sixth round, when Joshua landed a straight right followed with a right-left combination, knocking Paul down for the time at 1 minute 31 seconds. Paul attempted to get up but the referee counted him out as he reached his feet.

In his post-fight interview, Joshua admitted, "it wasn't the best performance", before calling out his long-time British rival, former two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, saying "if Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there that will take on any challenge, step into the ring with me next if you're a real bad boy." According to CompuBox, Joshua landed 48 of 146 punches (33%), while Paul landed with just 16 of his 56 shots (29%). The fight received significant viewership success for Netflix, attracting 33 million viewers globally.

Public image

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

Joshua is recognised as one of the most marketable athletes in the world, and has lucrative endorsement deals with numerous brands, including Under Armour, Beats By Dre, and Lucozade. In 2017, he was ranked as the world's most marketable athlete, ahead of basketball player Stephen Curry, who was ranked most marketable the previous year. Along with his boxing ability, this has been attributed to his "rags to riches" story, enforcing a narrative that he avoided a life of violence and crime by dedicating himself to boxing. Joshua has spoken of his ambition to surpass Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s reported career earnings of $700 million, saying in an interview with GQ, "When I first started, the aim was to become a multi-millionaire. But now there are ordinary people, grandmas and grandads, who are worth millions just because of property prices. So the new school of thought is that I need to be a billionaire. Being a millionaire is good but you have to set your sights higher."

Joshua has also been recognised with his inclusion in the annual Powerlist as one of the 100 most influential Black Britons, most recently in the 2021 edition. He has a tattoo of the continent of Africa on his right shoulder, with the territory of Nigeria outlined, and says he feels a strong connection to his Nigerian roots. In addition, he has entered the ring in multiple fights prominently displaying the flag of Nigeria.

Joshua's manager, Freddie Cunningham, has supported him throughout all his professional career, and is referred to as his "right hand man". Cunningham co-founded Joshua's own management company, 258MGT.

In August 2022, Joshua faced questions around the controversy of his world-title challenge taking place in Saudi Arabia. He was also questioned about the human rights situation in the Kingdom, after the Arab authorities sentenced a 34-year-old woman for 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity. However, he said that people were "loving the positive side of things" and they "don't focus on anything that's negative". Yasser al-Khayat, whose brother Mustafa was executed by Saudi authorities, also wrote a letter to Joshua and urged him to stand up for the human rights. He wrote to Joshua that speaking out could make a real difference, as Saudi uses the events like boxing "to distract from its oppression".

Personal life

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

Joshua fathered a son named Joseph "JJ" Joshua, with dance teacher Nicole Osbourne, in 2015.

Joshua has expressed an interest in chess as well as reading as a way to reinforce his boxing and tactical abilities. He was a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time.

Joshua previously stated in 2012 that he does not support a football team, but when asked in an interview in 2017, he said that although he supports his local team Watford F.C., his "overall favourite" team was Real Madrid C.F. because of Cristiano Ronaldo, as Ronaldo was a Real Madrid player at the time. In the same interview, he also described English footballer Troy Deeney, who he met by chance at a local barbershop in his hometown Watford, as his "good friend".

In an interview with iFL TV in July 2014, Joshua named Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield as his top five greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time.

In 2020, Joshua spoke about his positive relationship with his longtime promoter Eddie Hearn, who has promoted him since his professional debut in 2013, saying that he "and Eddie will always have a great friendship."

In 2023, Joshua joined the investment group of the French Alpine racing team of Formula One.

December 2025 car crash

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

On 29 December 2025, Joshua was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway near the Sinoma area close to Sagamu, Ogun State, while travelling as a passenger in a Lexus LX570. The collision resulted in the deaths of two people, later identified as his personal trainer Latif "Latz" Ayodele and his strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami, both also close friends of Joshua. Joshua was rescued from the vehicle by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and taken to the Duchess International Hospital, where he was treated for injuries reported to be non-life-threatening.

According to a statement released by the FRSC, the LX570 in which Joshua was travelling struck a stationary red commercial Sinotruk truck that was parked by the roadside. Preliminary findings indicated that the vehicle was suspected to have been travelling above the speed limit and lost control during an overtaking manoeuvre, which resulted in the collision.

Legal issues

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

In 2009, Joshua was put on remand in Reading Prison for what he describes as "fighting and other crazy stuff." He was made to wear an electronic tag on his ankle when released.

In March 2011, Joshua was pulled over by the police for speeding in Colindale, North West London. He was found with eight ounces (226.8 grams) of herbal cannabis hidden in a sports bag in his Mercedes-Benz. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug, an offence that carries a maximum 14-year sentence. Joshua was suspended from the GB Boxing squad and was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work after pleading guilty at crown court.