Anthony Joshua Rises, Deontay Wilder Falls In Ring Magazine Heavyweight Rankings

Posted by: Folamidavid in Celebrity News Dec 29, 2023

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder

Popular British-Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua has risen in the Ring Magazine’s latest heavyweight rankings.

This is coming after his latest victory against Otto Wallin, and fans have been reacting.

Joshua’s proposed next opponent, Deontay Wilder had a significant drop in the ranking after he suffered a defeat to Joseph Parker in Riyadh last week, and the result led to the British-Nigerian leapfrogging the American and taking his number two position.

The “champion” top spot is held by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, while Tyson Fury is currently ranked number one beneath him. Joshua, Zhilei Zhang, and Joseph Parker secure the next three (second, third, and fourth) positions, respectively.

WOW.

Anthony Joshua, OBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer who is a two-time unified heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles since December 2019 and previously between 2016 and June 2019. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2014 to 2016.

Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born on 15 October 1989 in Watford, Hertfordshire, the son of Yeta and Robert Joshua. His mother is Nigerian, while his father is of Nigerian and Irish ancestry. 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.