Anthony Joshua stood against Wladimir Klitschko, as he grabbed the world heavyweight championship title, under the Union Jack. But why wasn't he flying the green white green flag? Most people ponder; why be a Nigerian by blood, publicly show pride in your African heritage, but still profess loyalty to her Britannic Majesty? Want to find out why? Follow me as we uncover the untold story of Anthony Joshua, his rejection by Nigeria, and how it put him on the path to glory.
Born Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent, on the 15th of October, 1989; he undoubtedly was a child of mixed nationality. He grew up in Watford, England, where he and his cousin, Ben lleyemi, strived to make a career out of Boxing.
AJ's mother was always keen on reminding him of his African roots and so it's no surprise that he spent some of his early years in Nigeria before returning to the UK to join Kings Langley Secondary School. While growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, AJ was popularly called, 'Femi' by his friends and class teachers. He was a vibrant young boy who was excellent at football and athletics, not forgetting that he broke the Year Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds.
Joshua began boxing in 2007, aged 18. Ultimately, in 2008, he made contact with Nigeria's Boxing body, asking to represent his country of origin at the Olympic Games; but after being rejected by Nigerian boxing officials, his life took new turn, and the rest they say, is history.
According to former Commonwealth champion, world title contender and chief coach of the Nigerian boxing team, Obisia Nwankpa, "He reached out to us, asking to be part of our Olympic team, so we invited him to come down and take part in trials.
"Unfortunately, he did not appear when we asked him to and came down only when we had finished our trials, finalised our team and were about to travel for a training tour. Maybe other coaches would have accepted it, but I could not.
"It's a pity he did not get his chance at that time, but the two boxers we selected then, Durodola Olanrewaju and Onorede Ohwarieme, were outstanding and experienced and there was no way I was going to drop them for somebody I had not even seen."
Unfortunately, both Olanrewaju and Ohwarieme didn't go beyond the first bouts at the Beijing Olympic games. Olanrewaju was eliminated by Cuba's Osmay Acosta, who went on to win bronze, while Ohwarieme lost to Lithuania's Jaroslavas Jaksto. Regardless, Nwankpa believes that Joshua would not hav done any better at the time.
"Those two were great boxers and the reason they did not do so well was partly because our preparations were not really so good, and partly because there is also some politics in the way they judge these fights at amateur level."
The story took a new turn with the involvement of Jeremiah Okorodudu who represented Nigeria at the 1984 Olympic Games. He claimed that some harsh words were said to the teenage boxer.
"When they turned him back, they told him that if he was that good he should have fought for Britain," Okorodudu claimed.
It presently seems like that snub by the Nigerian boxing officials was more like a spark in Joshua's boxing career, as it spurred him to fight his way into the British Olympic team. In a space of four years, the Nigerian reject became Britain's Olympic gold medalist and a very important figure in the their Olympic boxing team.
According to Nwankpa, "Well, maybe if he had represented Nigeria at that time he would not have won gold at the Olympics. And possibly, even if he had won, he may not have achieved what he is achieving now.
"Being born in England gives him a certain amount of preference and because he is representing them, he also gets a lot of support from them; good management, and world class preparation.
"Here, it would have been difficult for him to get the kind of support that he has now. And if he doesn't have that support, he won't have fights and if he doesn't have fights, he cannot be champion," Nwankpa argues.
Again, Okorodudu did not agree with Nwankpa: "I believe he could still have achieved all that if he had fought for Nigeria. We have had boxers who have done well fighting for Nigeria. Peter Konyegwachie won silver in 1984. David Izonritei also won silver and I trained Samuel Peter for three years before he went to the Olympic Games and later became a world champion.
"So if Joshua had been given a chance here, I believe he could still have won gold and still be a world champion." On further reflection, however, Okorodudu admits it would have been a harder journey for the young champion.
"Lack of fights is a big problem for our boxers. They turn professional and there is no promotion. Joshua is where he is because he is getting good promotion, so maybe it would have been tougher for him. But because he was born in England, he could still have moved abroad, like Peter did, and that would have worked for him."
Nwankpa, insists that he has no regrets about rejecting Joshua, giving detailed reasons for that, "I would do it again because we must always do things the right way. Simply because somebody was born abroad does not mean he can just walk into our team without taking part in our trials. That would be unfair to those who sweated to take part and qualified. So no, I have no regrets at all. But I am happy for him and I wish him well in his fight against Klitschko. It will be a very tough fight."
The choices we make determine a lot in our lives; for Obisia Nwankpa, his rejection of Anthony Joshua, arguably deprived Nigeria of the glory that would have come from having a world champion fly the green white green flag; for Joshua, the rejection he suffered was the beginning of his journey to greatness. As the saying goes, "Every dark cloud has a silver lining".
