Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Володи́мирович Кличко́ Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko; born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian professional boxer who competes as a heavyweight. He is a former world champion of four sanctioning bodies, holding the titles of the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO, and was recognized by boxing publication The Ring magazine as its world heavyweight champion. A highly strategic boxer, Klitschko is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, and is also thought to be among the hardest punching knockout artists in the history of the division, with his strong jab, straight right hand and left hook being his best weapons.

Klitschko won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics and has held a portion of the world heavyweight championship since 2006, when he defeated Chris Byrd to win the IBF and IBO titles. He won the WBO title by defeating Sultan Ibragimov in 2008, was awarded The Ring title following his defeat of Ruslan Chagaev in 2009, and won the WBA title from David Haye in 2011. Until his defeat by Tyson Fury in 2015, Klitschko was also recognized as champion by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and considered by many to be the lineal heavyweight champion. He was also recognized by the WBA as one of its "Super Champions", a distinction given to boxers who hold that title in addition to those by other sanctioning bodies in the same division.

Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua, MBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is the current Commonwealth, British and WBC International heavyweight champion. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. Joshua is currently ranked #9 at heavyweight by The Ring magazine, and currently boasts a 100% knockout ratio.

Early life

Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a father of Nigerian and Irish descent. His cousin is fellow unbeaten professional boxer Ben Ileyemi. The pair made their professional debuts together in 2013.

Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, Joshua was called 'Femi' by his friends and former teachers at Kings Langley Secondary School, due to his middle name 'Oluwafemi'. He excelled at football and athletics and broke the Year Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.

Amateur career