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Anthony Joshua burst onto the scene by winning Great Britain gold in the super heavyweight division.
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He made his professional debut in October 2013 and has gone on to become a two-time unified world champion.
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The current professional record of AJ reads 28-3-0, with 25 victories by way of knockout, as was one loss.
Standing 6’6’’ as a two-time former unified heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua’s presence has been felt in boxing since his arrival in late 2013. Now with a record of 28-3, he’s fighting to get some belts back again.
As we approach Anthony Joshua’s next fight, we take a look back at his impressive professional record so far, which is certainly helping to cement him among the best British heavyweights to lace up some gloves.
Complete Fight Record
This is the complete Anthony Joshua fight record to date, including the date and the method of victory for each.
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Win (TKO) vs Emanuele Leo (05/10/13)
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Win (TKO) vs Paul Butlin (26/10/13)
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Win (TKO) vs Hrvoje Kisicek (14/11/13)
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Win (TKO) vs Dorian Darch (01/02/14)
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Win (KO) vs Hector Alfredo Avila (01/03/14)
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Win (KO) vs Matt Legg (31/05/14)
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Win (TKO) vs Matt Skelton (12/07/14)
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Win (TKO) vs Konstantin Airich (13/09/14)
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Win (TKO) vs Denis Bakhtov (11/10/14)
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Win (TKO) vs Michael Sprott (22/11/14)
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Win (KO) vs Jason Gavern (04/04/15)
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Win (TKO) vs Raphael Zumbano (09/05/15)
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Win (TKO) vs Kevin Johnson (30/05/15)
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Win (TKO) vs Gary Cornish (12/09/15)
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Win (TKO) vs Dillian Whyte (12/12/15)
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Win (KO) vs Charles Martin (09/04/16)
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Win (TKO) vs Dominic Breazeale (25/06/16)
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Win (TKO) vs Eric Molina (10/12/16)
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Win (TKO) vs Wladimir Klitschko (29/04/17)
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Win (TKO) vs Carlos Takam (28/10/17)
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Win (UD) vs Joseph Parker (31/03/18)
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Win (TKO) vs Alexander Povetkin (22/09/18)
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Loss (TKO) vs Andy Ruiz (01/06/19)
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Win (UD) vs Andy Ruiz (07/12/19)
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Win (KO) vs Kubrat Pulev (12/12/20)
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Loss (UD) vs Oleksandr Usyk (25/09/21)
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Loss (SD) vs Oleksandr Usyk (20/08/22)
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Win (UD) vs Jermaine Franklin Jr (01/04/23)
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Win (KO) vs Robert Helenius (12/08/23)
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Win (RTD) vs Otto Wallin (23/12/23)
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Win (KO) vs Francis Ngannou (08/03/24)
Anthony Joshua now has a professional boxing record of 28-3-0 at the age of 34.
Amateur Record
Joshua began boxing aged 18 in 2007 and would go on to win amateur boxing awards in the UK to accompany his superb 40-3 record. As the London 2012 Olympics approached, AJ was one of the nation’s big medal hopes.
Despite being a silver medallist at the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Joshua was certainly green on the international scene.
Opening against the tricky Erislandy Savón, Joshua scraped through by a point. He was then more convincing against Zhilei Zhang and Ivan Dychko before meeting Roberto Cammarelle in the gold medal bout.
The scoring ended 18-18 despite AJ trailing by a few points heading into the last round. On countback, the Team GB star was granted the win and the gold medal.
Early Fight Highlights
Joshua was managed well in his transition from the Olympic Games to the professional scene by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, gradually getting increasingly higher-class opponents to reach 12-0 before his first big step up.
Kevin Johnson was seen as an important gatekeeper to the upper echelons of the heavyweight division at the time. He had a 29-6-1 record and had taken the likes of Derek Chisora and Tyson Fury to decision recently.
Joshua was done with him before the second round was out.
After then beating Gary Cornish in a first-round knockout, a much-hyped grudge match with fellow up-and-coming British heavyweight Dillian Whyte pushed AJ past the third round for the first time in his pro career.
It was a heated battle, but Joshua’s class shone through, ending in a particularly poignant right uppercut to send an already dazed Whyte down to the mat, left arm wrapped in the lower ropes.
First World Title
When Tyson Fury’s fight record stalled following his win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, the IBF, IBO, and WBO belts were, eventually, scattered to the wind.
Charles Martin was selected by the IBF to face Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant strap in January 2016, and ‘Prince Charles’ walked away with it after his opponent bowed out in round three with a knee injury.
In April, Martin, to his credit, came to the O2 Arena to stare down one of boxing’s rising stars. Still, he didn’t last long. Joshua put the American down twice in the second round to win by knockout.
The IBF World heavyweight champion would end 2016 with two defences of his title, beating Dominic Breazeale in the seventh and Eric Molina in the third.
Klitschko vs Joshua
Wladimir Klitschko, looking to finally have a shot at the belts he lost to Fury in a rather dull affair, made himself the IBO challenger for the vacant belt and coaxed in Joshua’s camp, who’d bring the IBF World title.
You had the rising star of the heavyweight division against its most dominant force of the decade, facing off in a rammed Wembley Stadium, and this time – even with a classy build-up – the battle lived up to its billing.
Joshua did everything he could to stay out of the Ukrainian’s crosshairs and try to nullify his opponent’s tricky forearm pull-down. At the same time, Klitschko looked as agile as before the Fury match, slipping the power of AJ.
In the fifth, Joshua came flying out of the corner, smashing in big combinations, hooks to the head, busting the right eyebrow of ‘Dr Steelhammer’ and putting him to the mat for the first time in over a decade.
This only lit the fire in Klitschko. He started darting in with big bombs, and Joshua got dazed by a left hook. Klitschko would eat some huge shots, but suddenly, Joshua was struggling in the fifth.
In the sixth, Klitschko capitalised with a huge right straight. Joshua committed immediately to the fall, took the seconds, and gradually built his way back into the bout despite the hammering from his seasoned opponent.
It’s this performance that holds in the minds of boxing fans and has them continue to hover over the live betting odds when Joshua’s been up against it in the fights since.
Round 11 dinged, and Joshua was back to full strength. Again, dashing out of the corner, he’d go in with power shot after power shot. In the middle of the ring, he connected with a huge uppercut.
AJ would topple his opponent again in the 11th with a mighty left hook, and while Klitschko got back on his feet, the referee mercifully stepped in to end it. “Lift off for AJ!” Adam Smith on commentary declared.
Three of Four Belts
Having defended his unified title against the granite-chinned Carlos Takam – who Joshua beat in the tenth by TKO – it was on to New Zealander Joseph Parker, who’d defeated Andy Ruiz in December 2012 for the vacant WBO strap.
The two met at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, billed as a showcase of power against speed. Parker certainly ate some big hits, but was mostly able to evade what Joshua had to offer.
In the end, though, as the busier fighter on the front foot, Joshua was given the unanimous decision win by all three judges with at least an eight-point margin. Perhaps a bit harsh on Parker, but the right end result.
Joshua would beat Alexander Povetkin next while awaiting Deontay Wilder to agree to a fight for the undisputed title, but negotiations would never pan out.
Instead, Wilder would live to regret taking on the recently returned Fury, while Joshua would head into the first loss of his professional career.
Joshua vs Ruiz Duology
Looking to curry some favour with the American audience, Joshua set his first professional fight on foreign soil to be at Madison Square Garden in New York against American up-and-comer Jarrell Miller.
Unfortunately, the highly-anticipated fight, which broke pre-sale records at MSG, would collapse due to Miller failing multiple anti-doping tests. So, the 32-1 Andy Ruiz put his name in the hat and was picked.
Ruiz’s only loss had been to Parker, but given his build and the rest of his record, few saw the California-born, 268lb puncher to be much of a challenge to the unified world champion.
It began as many thought it would, with Joshua sending a scrappy Ruiz to the mat in the third. This got the American’s tail up. He managed to slip a big shot aimed at his head, pop up in close, and land a flush left hook to Joshua’s temple.
Joshua was dazed, and Ruiz was relentless. Ruiz put him down again in the third, continued to push, and found pay dirt again in the seventh, twice. The referee waved off the fight and AJ lost his belts.
It’d be fair to say that Ruiz lived it up as the unified world heavyweight champion up to the contract-triggered rematch. Six months after his division-shattering triumph, Ruiz weighed in at over 283lbs in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua pivoted to a much more out-boxing style, keeping on his toes, skipping around Ruiz, and peppering him with shots. Keen to not take any of the heavy hits sustained in the last fight, it was a very different Joshua showing.
In the end, it proved to be the right call, as Joshua won on all three of the judges’ scorecards by at least a margin of eight points. Now, he was the two-time unified heavyweight world champion.
Joshua vs Usyk Duology
Having dominated the cruiserweight division at around 199 lbs for a few years, with the IBF, WBC, and WBO World titles to his name, Oleksandr Usyk stepped up to the heavyweight division.
While technically sublime against Chazz Witherspoon on his heavyweight debut, he didn’t look as fighting fit – as it were – compared to his cruiserweight days.
Then, while he outclassed Derek Chisora, the Brit did last the rounds and even won a few with his own relentless, never-quitting style that’s won over so many fans.
When the call came to face Joshua for his three world titles, Usyk’s gradual build into the division reached its pinnacle, with the Ukrainian weighing in at a tight 240 lbs – 15 lbs less than his battle with Chisora and visibly in better shape even just two pounds less than on his heavyweight debut.
At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Usyk fought through an eyebrow cut to school Joshua. His pendulum steps and southpaw stance kept him out of range while peppering the then-champion with plenty of clean shots.
Joshua, quite rightly, lost by unanimous decision. In the rematch in Jeddah, the fight was closer. AJ certainly closed the gap on Usyk and made it a more difficult battle, but a somewhat dubious split decision rightly went to Usyk.
Next Fight
Joshua’s next fight is expected to be the final step of his rebuild, with him heavily favoured in the boxing betting to defeat Daniel Dubois.
Since losing to Usyk and moving on from his only coach to that time, Rob McCracken, Joshua’s flipped through different coaches and camp locations to try to rebuild towards another world title shot.
He’s defeated Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou since, with Robert Garcia, Derrick James, and now Ben Davison in his corner.
Next up, as the fifth step in Joshua’s rebuild, it’ll be Dubois on 21 September 2024 at Wembley Stadium for the IBF World title Usyk vacated mere weeks after becoming the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion.
With a world title, Dubois or Joshua would have some leverage in challenging the winner of the Usyk-Fury rematch.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
