How many fights has Anthony Joshua lost in his professional career?

Anthony Joshua is the unified world heavyweight champion, having held the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO titles since 2019. Indeed, in 2021, Joshua and WBC title holder, Tyson Fury, signed up for a two-fight deal to determine the undisputed world heavyweight champion. That was, of course, before Deontay Wilder won his arbitration case for a third fight with Fury, which is now scheduled for October 2021. Likewise, Joshua in scheduled to defend his titles against mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021, so the eagerly-awaited showdown is on hold for the time being.

Anyway, to answer the headline question, at the time of writing, Anthony Joshua has fought 25 times as a professional, winning 24 times, including 22 knockouts. The sole defeat of his professional career came against American Andy Ruiz at Madison Square Garden, New York on June 1, 2019. Despite starting 25/1 underdog, Ruiz felled Joshua four times before the referee stopped the fight and awarded Ruiz victory, by technical knockout, in the seventh round. A rematch inevitably followed and, in the so-called ‘Clash On The Dunes’ in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, Joshua defeated Ruiz, by unanimous decision, to reclaim his heavyweight titles.

What does this teach us? Well certainly that no fighter is unbeatable. No matter what previous pattern of easy wins has been apparent, there can always be surprises or underdog occurrences and that really is what at times makes boxing so unpredictable and captivating. New online casinos open every day, start playing today. People at a roulette wheel see red coming in X number of times are become convinced that either 1) the pattern will continue or 2) the next spin will be black. Of course though, as with boxing (though of course ability factors into boxing too) each ‘spin’ or ’bout’ is a separate event, and it pays not to imagine that we know how it’s going to unfold. In realistic terms if boxing were a casino game it’d be more like poker though. Strategy, a poker face, raw ability and a pinch of luck all go into the mix. And of course boxing and casinos are actually a fit that goes back many decades. Just look to Vegas, and also casinos routinely sponsoring big fights.

So what next for Anthony Joshua? Well, many eagerly anticipate a match up with the undefeated Tyson Fury. The fight has been on the cards for years and tantalizingly close to happening at times, only for boxing politics to get in the way. With the storm that Covid brought to the world of sport over the past couple of years, any hope of much anticipated bouts coming to fruition has been put firmly on the back burner. Sure we’ve had some fights of note, but if anything the biggest bouts of late have been novelty fights in nature, featuring Youtube celebrities like Jake and Logan Paul. Sure, it’s easy money for them but possibly a slight concern for boxing that fights not exactly based around ability have top billing at the present time. Hopefully as the general health and vaccinated situation improves, we’ll be back to having some brawls that go down in history before long.