After retaining his WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO world heavyweight titles against Kubrat Pulev on Saturday, Anthony Joshua can look to the future and who he will fight next.
With all eyes will on a potential encounter against Oleksandr Usyk, or even a mega fight with Tyson Fury, it’s easy to forget just how far Joshua has come.
It’s important to remember that the Watford local took up boxing in 2007 aged 18, and five years later was winning gold at the London Olympics.
He won the men’s super-heavyweight gold medal after beating Italian boxer Roberto Cammarelle, and few could have imagined where he would end up after that.
Following the win, Joshua admitted: ‘I want to dominate everyone in amateurs, become a world champion, become European champion. I’m learning each tournament and the more I go to the more I’ll improve as a fighter.’
Fast-forward to now and he has just won his 24th out of 25 professional bouts and is on the hunt to unify the heavyweight belts in the near future.
This hasn’t just come from nowhere though, as Joshua has had a number of pivotal fights in his career leading up to this point.
His first major test was against fellow Brit Dillian Whyte, fighting for the British heavyweight championship while also defending his Commonwealth title back in December 2015.
Whyte became the first pro fighter to really worry Joshua, taking him further than anyone previously, however he was eventually knocked out by an uppercut in the seventh round.
This milestone fight paved the way for more opportunities for Joshua, who next went on to fight Charles Martin for his first major title, the IBF world heavyweight championship.
Make no mistake, this was set up to be a huge fight for the then undefeated boxer, and he swiftly dispatched of Martin by knocking him out in the second round.
After defending his IBF title against the likes of Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina, he was handed the biggest fight of his career against boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko.
Their fight was for the vacant WBA and IBO titles and was the toughest test of Joshua’s career thus far.
In front of a post-war record crowd of 90,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium, the two faced off in what turned out to be a brilliant show of boxing.
AJ was knocked down for the first time as a professional, however he quickly snapped back and produced one of the most iconic moments of his career, landing an uppercut on Klitschko that nearly broke the internet.
Millions saw the famous picture of the Ukrainian’s head being snapped all the way back, and the eventual victory for Joshua would prove to be a pivotal moment in his ascent to stardom.
More bouts followed, including winning the WBO world title from Joseph Parker, but of course nothing lasts forever.
In steps Andy Ruiz Jr, who shocked the boxing world when he knocked out Joshua and stole his belts in Mexico back in 2019.
Just like that, his unbeaten record was gone, and he was left with no more titles.
Naturally, he did what he does best and bounced back in calm style to knockout the Mexican fighter and retain his championships just six months later.
However, this proved to be a major moment in his career so far, as boxing fans around the world began to question his ability and how shocking the loss to Ruiz actually was.
After a year with no fights, Joshua returned to the ring on Saturday against Pulev and put in another assured performance to retain his belts and set him up nicely for 2021.
This brings us to now, where fans want to know who he will be facing off against next.
There is just one name on everyone’s lips, and Fury himself has made it clear that he wants the fight.
Just minutes after Pulev was knocked out, Fury tweeted a video of himself saying:
‘I want the fight. I want the fight next and I can’t wait to knock him out inside three rounds. He is a big dosser, and I can’t wait to knock him out.’
If, or when, the pair meet inside a boxing ring, it is sure to be one of the biggest boxing matches in recent memory and will surely eclipse the Klitschko bout as one of the biggest moments in Joshua’s ongoing career.
By Ali Pollock
