Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua has the world at his feet after beating Wladimir Klitschko, but it was not a smooth road to stardom.
Joshua, the IBF and WBA heavyweight champion, was born in Watford to his Nigerian mum Yeta and Nigerian-Irish father Robert.
Before discovering his talent for and admirable dedication to boxing, Joshua had a number of brushes with the law.
Aged 16, while playing football for his school Langley Secondary, he grabbed an opponent by the neck and threw him over his shoulder, leading to a formal complaint, a charge of actual bodily harm and then a warning.
He was also involved in street fights, which led to him being on remand in Reading, and in 2011 while a promising amateur he was arrested with cannabis in his car.
At the age of 17 Joshua was introduced to boxing by his cousin Ben Ileyemi, at the Finchley Amateur Boxing Club. He went to participate in a fitness class but quickly discovered how much he enjoyed to box.
His swift progress, combined with the natural athleticism that means he can sprint 100m in just over 10 seconds, ensured that within the next three years he was brought into the Great Britain squad at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield and considered a prospect for London 2012.
Joshua's arrest for possessing cannabis and intent to supply the drug then followed when he was caught speeding. After he pleaded guilty, he was suspended from the Britain boxing squad and sentenced to both a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work.
The warning heeded, he focused on his passion for boxing, winning a silver medal at the world championships before announcing himself to the wider public as the super-heavyweight Olympic champion at London 2012.
After Matchroom beat significant competition to secure his signature, Joshua made his professional debut at London's O2 Arena in October 2013, stopping Italy's Emanuele Leo inside a round.
The Commonwealth heavyweight title followed against Gary Cornish in September 2015, the British against Dillian Whyte three months later, and then the IBF heavyweight title against America's Charles Martin in April 2016.
Saturday's knockout defeat of Klitschko, in front of 90,000 at Wembley, could yet prove the 27-year-old's defining fight and has earned him a reported £15million.
It perhaps makes it all the more remarkable that despite buying a property for the mother of his 18-month-old son Joseph, he still lives in his mother's council flat in Golders Green, North London.
Source: PA
