Timeline of heavyweight Anthony Joshua's rise through the boxing ranks

As a youngster, Joshua had a raw talent in sport. At school, he was one of the standout performers in football and had a need for speed on the track with times of just over 10 seconds in the 100 metres. However, Joshua had problems with his discipline outside of sport. From the age of 16, he frequently found himself in trouble and in 2011, he got on the wrong side of the law.
This was three years after Joshua, nicknamed 'Femi' by friends, decided to lace up a pair of gloves at Finchley ABC after being recommended by his cousin, Gbenga Ileyemi. 

Despite being a late starter, 'AJ' had a natural gift and soon enough Team GB came calling after impressing. He would receive an invite to the English Institute of Sport - based in Sheffield - and the home for elite amateurs from Britain.

Things looked to be running smoothly as he won gold medals at the English National and Great Britain Championships in Colchester and Liverpool, respectively.That was until disaster struck in March 2011 when Joshua got pulled over by the police for speeding in his Mercedes-Benz.

A second chance & Olympic glory

Thankfully, Joshua was given a second chance of redemption and he didn't look back. A silver medal at the 2011 Amateur Boxing Championships led to him being selected for the 2012 London Olympics. In an extremely tough draw at the Games, Joshua defeated highly-ranked Cuban Erislandy Savon and Zhang Zhilei, who won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 23-year-old then overcame Ivan Dychko of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals with the judges scoring it 13-11 in favour to the home favourite. Deemed as a novice prior to the Olympics, Joshua was now on the brink of glory. Roberto Cammarelle stood in his way. The Italian would prove to be the ultimate test. At the age of 32, Cammarelle was the reigning Olympic champion and a former two-time world champion.
After losing the first two rounds, Joshua fired back with a vegence in the third which saw the judges score the contest at 18-18 at the final bell meaning it went to countback. With the scoring of five judges rather than a usual three, 'AJ' was given the nod by three rounds, much to the dismay of the Italians who would later unsuccessfully appealed the result.

The Briton, following into the footsteps of Luke Campbell and Nicola Adams in London, claimed Team GB's 29th and final gold medal. His road to redemption had finally been completed, proving that sometimes people can thrive when given a second chance in life.

The professional circuit

Amid speculation of Joshua being linked to signing a 10-fight contract with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, Matchroom mogul Eddie Hearn jumped the queue and got the signature of Britain's most exciting prospect. Having disposed Emanuele Leo inside the opening round on his debut at London's O2 Arena, Joshua would go on to rack up 14 successive wins inside the distance.

Having showcased his talents, the Commonwealth titleholder's next battle was with a familiar face on Sky Sports Box Office. That familiar face was Dillian Whyte. The bitter foes had previously traded blows in the amateur ranks in 2009 with Whyte emerging victorious.

The World Stage

In February 2016, Hearn announced Joshua's next opponent would be IBF world champion Charles Martin. The southpaw, who defeated Vyacheslav Glazkov, was making his first defence since taking the title back to America.

Martin got given the chance to fight for the IBF crown after Tyson Fury was stripped of the title for not fighting his mandatory challenger by the boxing organisation. It was mission impossible for Fury, though due to Wladimir Klitschko triggering his rematch clause. The 'Gypsy King' would later withdraw from the Klitschko fight and relinquish the WBO and WBA championships due to being declared medically unfit.

Martins and Joshua fought at London's O2 Arena - a venue the latter had won at on five previous occasions. It soon turned into six as the fight was over in the second. Emulating the likes of Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno, Joshua became heavyweight world champion. The former bricklayer recorded successful defences against another two Americans in fellow Olympian Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina.

Fight of the Century

In classic Hearn style, the promoter invaded the ring instantly after the Molina fight to announce a fight for the ages between Joshua and the legendary Klitschko at Wembley. It would be a unification battle with the vacant WBA (Super) also on the line. A post-war record of 90,000 spectators would attend the event in London to witness history in the making. It exceeded the 80,000 record previously set by Carl Froch and George Groves for their grudge match in 2015 - a card ironically, Joshua fought on. However, the bad news is, the 'Cobra' will still continue to gloat about 'knocking out George Groves at Wembley'...

In a titanic clash, Joshua came back from the abyss in an extraordinary fifth round to produce an unforgettable TKO in round 11. In doing so, he retired one of heavyweight's greatest. The Watford man was now officially a national treasure.

Unifying the division

IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev was expected to be next up for Joshua until the Bulgarian pulled out. Promoter Kalle Sauerland confirmed his fighter had suffered a shoulder injury whilst sparring. Cameroonian-Frenchman Carlos Takam replaced Pulev just 12 days out from the event in the Welsh capital. Weighing a career-high of 254lbs, Joshua overcame a rocky start and came on strong in the later rounds to force referee Phil Edwards to halt the fight in the 10th.

The road to undisputed continued with New Zealand's first ever heavyweight champion Joseph Parker agreeing to a unification at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. An impressive technical performance saw Joshua outpoint the Kiwi. His unanimous decision victory did however, end a 100% winning streak via KO. The 29-year-old was back to normal service against Alexander Povetkin at Wembley though, with a stunning seventh-round stoppage

Wilder negotiations stall & fall from grace

In a shock move, Fury agreed to fight Wilder in December 2018 after just two comeback fights. The Los Angeles bout ended in a thrilling majority-draw and did the biggest PPV sales for a heavyweight contest since Lewis versus 'Iron' Mike Tyson in 2002. Joshua wanted a piece of the action against Wilder himself and was keen for talks soon after.
The pair were the only two recognised world champions with Wilder holding the famous WBC green-and-gold title. It was THE fight to make in world boxing. Negotiations had previously fell through several times in 2017 and 2018 but Joshua's camp were optimistic of striking a deal.
Could we finally see the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lewis in 2002? No chance. The 'Bronze Bomber' instead fought mandatory challenger Brezeale forcing Joshua to make his American debut in the Big Apple after a rematch with Whyte failed to materialise. With the backing of streaming service DAZN, Joshua and Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller were scheduled to dance at Madison Square Garden. That was before news had broke about Miller's failing THREE drug tests. 

Just one month before his debut across the pond, Hearn confirmed Andy Ruiz Jr as his next opponent. Ruiz fitted the bill. He had a strong amateur background and possessed a decent Hispanic fanbase, something DAZN wanted.
A seemingly out-of-shape Ruiz was mocked during the weigh-in as he ate a Snickers bar before lifting Joshua's belts in the air. A routine victory was expected for 'AJ'.
However, June 1 would go on to become an historic heavyweight moment as Ruiz delivered one of the biggest upsets of the past two decades. Joshua, concussed during the majority of the bout, hit the deck four times during his crushing seventh round TKO defeat to the 20-1 underdog.

Criticism came Joshua's way following his shock defeat, including from Lewis, who questioned whether he needed to replace trainer Rob McCraken. The 'Pugilist's' comments prompted an aggressive response from 'AJ', who labelled Lewis a 'clown' in his Sky Sports documentary - 'AJ: The Untold Truth'. 

Ruiz vs. Joshua II

With all the pressure on Joshua to deliver the goods in order to re-establish himself in the heavyweight division, the Londoner took full advantage of Ruiz coming in over 300-pounds to outpoint the Mexican. It was a disciplined performance from Joshua in a fight which many felt could've been his last.
After regaining three of the four world heavyweight titles on offer, Joshua is now firmly poised to make two mandatory defences of his IBF and WBO titles before attempting to secure a unification with either Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury to determine the best heavyweight fighter on the planet.