He may have started his boxing career as an 18-year-old back in 2007, but since then, Anthony Joshua has gone on to have a 100% record in his professional career. Next month, he faces Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr in a bid to retain his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles. His opponent may have won 32 of his 33 professional fights, with 21 of those coming by a knockout; but Joshua’s record is considerably more admirable and boasts 22 wins from 22 fights and knockouts in all but one of those. Ahead of this newly-arranged fight, we take a look back at AJ’s 100% record.
⦁ v Emanuele Leo (October 5th 2013)
AJ easily won his first fight as a professional, flooring his Italian opponent just two minutes 47 seconds in. Leo had been unbeaten in his last eight fights, but the first-round knockout lived up to the high expectations that were placed upon Joshua prior to the bout.
⦁ v Paul Butlin (October 26th 2013)
Joshua made it two wins out of two later that month, when he overcame fellow Brit, Paul Butlin. After dominating the first round, AJ knocked him out in the second. A left hook left Butlin unsteady, but after a flurry of blows, the referee had no option but to wave off the contest.
⦁ v Hrvoje Kisicek (November 14th 2013)
It took just two rounds for Joshua to knockout Croatian, Hrvoje Kisicek. AJ had a significant height and weight advantage over his opponent and a left hook to the body of Kisicek left him on the ropes.
⦁ v Dorian Darch (February 1st 2014)
Joshua’s 100% record continued over Dorian Darch, and yet another second-round knockout. There was no respite for Darch who was continuously met with blows and referee brought the bout to a close. AJ wasn’t happy with his performance and told reporters: “The next fight in March, hopefully you will see a bit of improvement”.
⦁ v Hector Avila (March 1st 2014)
The Argentine was beaten by a knockout in the first-round. AJ made it five out five, when landing a left counter-attack blow and flooring his opponent. Despite the referee starting the count, this bout was already over.
⦁ v Matt Legg (May 31st 2014)
It took just two rounds for Joshua to be victorious again. Appearing on the undercard at the Froch v Groves fight, it only took two uppercuts and a left hook to knockout fellow Brit, Matt Legg.
⦁ v Matt Skelton (July 12th 2014)
AJ handed Matt Skelton one of his trademark knockout blows, in what was to be Skelton’s final fight. Again, it didn’t take long for Joshua to assert his authority over his opponent, and a right hand blow floored Skelton in the second round.
⦁ v Konstantin Airich (September 13th 2014)
It may have taken a round longer than usual, but AJ produced another dominant display over his Kazakh opponent. A big right-hand jab hurt Airich and a flurry of punches left him on the ropes, before a combination of late shots ended proceedings.
⦁ v Denis Bakhtov (October 11th 2014)
Just a year after he made his professional debut, Joshua made it nine knockout wins from nine fights and in the process, claimed the WBC International heavyweight belt. An impressive display enhanced AJ’s reputation as one of Britain’s most exciting prospects. Joshua was in control throughout this bout and a relentless series of blows saw the Russian stopped legitimately for the first time in nine years.
⦁ v Michael Sprott (November 22nd 2014)
It took Joshua just 90 seconds to knockout Michael Sprott for his tenth successive victory. AJ managed to get his opponents on the ropes and it wasn’t long before the referee needed to step in to end this one.
⦁ v Jason Gavern (April 4th 2015)
AJ stopped experience American Jason Gavern in the third round of his comeback fight in Newcastle. The referee stopped this one after Gavern had been floored four times, with a thunderous left hook sealing the victory.
⦁ v Raphael Zumbano Love (May 9th 2015)
Another second-round knockout improved AJ’s stats and this time Brazilian Raphael Zumbano Love was handed a trademark blow. A strong right hander floored his opponent who had no chance of returning to his feet.
⦁ v Kevin Johnson (May 30th 2015)
Joshua retained his WBC International heavyweight title with a win over American Kevin Johnson. The fight could have been stopped in the first-round with Johnson on the ropes, but the referee called an end to it in the following round.
⦁ v Gary Cornish (September 12th 2015)
AJ won the Commonwealth title following a 90-odd second bout with fellow Brit, Gary Cornish. His perfect record continued in round two, despite putting Cornish on the floor twice in round one.
⦁ v Dillian Whyte (December 12th 2015)
Joshua’s closest encounter thus far saw seven rounds between him and Dillian Whyte. AJ survived an early scare but hit back in the gruelling contest, which saw his rival floored and made Joshua a British heavyweight.
⦁ v Charles Martin (April 9th 2016)
Another match, another knockout and another title as Joshua won the IBF heavyweight title, after beating American Charles Martin in the second round.
⦁ v Dominic Brezeale (June 25th 2016)
It took longer than expected, seven rounds in fact, but Joshua was victorious yet again against his American opponent. AJ was in control early on, but was made to work for this win, maintaining his unbeaten record in the process.
⦁ v Eric Molina (December 10th 2016)
AJ’s third-round knockout win over American Eric Molina saw him retain his IBF heavyweight title. But the most exciting news came when in the third round, Wladimir Klitschko entered the ring to announce he’d fight Joshua next.
⦁ v Wladimir Klitschko (April 29th 2017)
A bumper crowd at Wembley turned out to see AJ’s toughest fight to date and it took 11 rounds for him to overcome the big Ukrainian. It was a close encounter until the 11th round when AJ sent a barrage of punches and knocked out Dr Steelhammer. Joshua won the WBA (super) and IBO heavyweight titles.
⦁ v Carlos Takam (October 28th 2017)
It was 20-without defeat for AJ, but in controversial circumstances over Cameroonian Carlos Takam. After taking a blow to his nose, AJ fought back and dropped his opponent in the fourth round. Several stoppages and rounds later, the referee stepped in round 10 to end the contest.
⦁ v Joseph Parker (March 31st 2018)
The only match AJ hasn’t won by knockout came against Australian Joseph Parker, which saw the two battle it out over the 12 rounds. Joshua eventually won by unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110 and 119-109), winning the WBO heavyweight title in the process.
⦁ v Alexander Povetkin (22nd September 2018)
In his most recent bout, Joshua retained his titles with a seventh-round victory over Russian Alexander Povetkin. During the early stages, the Brit grew in confidence and several savage combinations ended up proving too much – with Povetkin slumping to the ropes.
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