Boxing Champion Anthony Joshua receives OBE award

Nigerian-British world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has been honoured with the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Prince Charles.

The 29-year-old boxer, who holds four title belts, was awarded the OBE, one of the highest honours in Britain, at an award ceremony held at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Joshua is currently a unified world heavyweight champion, holding three of the four major championships in the sport: IBF title since 2016, WBA (Super) title since 2017, and WBO title since March 2018.

He has also held the IBO title since 2017, and at regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2014 to 2016.

Mr Joshua represented England at the 2011 World Championships as an amateur in the super-heavyweight division, winning a silver medal.

He also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning gold. In 2014, a year after turning professional, he was named Prospect of the Year by The Ring Magazine.

In 2017, his victorious fight against Wladimir Klitschko, was named Fight of the Year by ‘The Ring’ and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body.

(NAN)