SPICE #MCM is world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua.
It’s no surprise that after an astonishing performance that ended up with him copping the international Boxing Federation world heavyweight title, the vacant World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organization belts by defeating Russia’s Wladimir Klitschko; we have chosen him to be our #MCM.
Despite being born far away from his roots Nigeria, Anthony Joshua has continued to acknowledge his motherland. His success has brought a new light in boxing and has been a source of motivation and pride to a lot of people. The undefeated champion in 19 of his 19 games has represented England at the 2011 world championship winning silver, he represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division, and the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.
Despite some youthful mistakes and a run in with the law in 2011, when he was pulled over for over-speeding, and caught with cannabis, AJ as he is fondly called got his act together and put all that energy into boxing which has earned him a rank as the world’s best heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, and second best by The Ring magazine.
‘Whatever I’m doing I’ll be thinking about how to get better. I’m not perfect but what I can do is to perfect what I’m good at. Like knocking people out.’
Joshua who spent some of his early years in Nigeria before moving back to the UK excelled in both football and athletics, now the world heavy weight champion indulges in Chess and reading to improve his boxing and tactical abilities.
Did you know? Anthony wanted to represent Nigeria in the 2008 Olympics, but was declined because of alleged lateness and the fact the country already has pro boxers with many years of experience.
His big win against the younger of Russia’s Klitschok brothers amassed a 90,000-capacity crowd at the Wembley Stadium, London, which is the biggest boxing audience of the United Kingdom in the past 80 years.
