Anthony Joshua is one of the UK’s most famous boxers with his personal life gaining as much attention as his fighting skills in recent times
Boxing icon Anthony Joshua has had an eventful life in the ring but his love-life exploits outside of it have drawn almost as much coverage. Joshua, 36, will take on YouTube star turned boxer Jake Paul this weekend, with the duo going head-head in Miami.
Joshua announced himself to the world at the London Olympics in 2012 as he claimed the gold medal. He has held the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight championship belts and has beaten the likes of Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker over the years.
Joshua has attempted to keep his personal life out of the public eye, however. What is known is that the boxer isn’t married and was once at the centre of a furore with fellow boxer Amir Khan, after Khan claimed his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, cheated on him with Joshua, an accusation Joshua has strenuously denied.
While Joshua’s personal life has largely been kept under wraps, he is known to have a son named Joseph “JJ” Joshua. Joseph’s mum is Nicole Osbourne, a former dancer who now works as a yoga instructor.
Joshua was linked with Bella Hadid in 2017 with several media reports speculating that the pair were dating, amid the supermodel off-on relationship with singer the Weeknd.
TV personality and radio presenter, Vick Hope was also rumoured to have struck up a romance with Joshua around 2018, however no relationship was ever confirmed and she married DJ Calvin Harris in 2023.
Joshua has been linked with famous Moroccan model and influencer, Samia Slimani this year. Rumours of a romance began to fly when pictures were shared on Instagram during Joshua’s visit to Morocco.
However, it was the episode with Khan that threatened to spiral out of control. It began when Khan took to social media to claim that Joshua was having an affair with his wife, Makhdoom.
In his tweet, Khan posted: “Lol moved up in the weight classes lol. Trust me I ain’t the jealous type. No need to send me pictures of the men you’re talking to #Disgusted.
“Left my family and friends for this Faryal. I’m not hurt but another fighter. I’m making it public. You getting the divorce #Golddigger. Mans like Joshua can have my leftovers!”
Joshua immediately denied the allegations. Khan has since regretted destroying his friendship with Joshua, claiming he was going through a difficult period.
Speaking on The Overlap, Khan said: “I was in the papers for crazy stuff. Messing about with women, chilling out with this girl, chilling out with that girl. I was going through a bit of a mad time myself. I wanted to leave my wife then.”
“I had the problem with Anthony Joshua which I feel really bad for because at the end of the day I put him in the firing line for no reason,” Khan added. “I mean, he was a friend of mine and since then we’ve never spoken.
“So, I lost a good friend through that as well. The guy did nothing wrong and I kind of just stuck it on him really, What happened was, my wife – me and her were not talking – and she sent a message saying, ‘Look, so many fighters are messaging me.’
“And because she showed me a message of Anthony Joshua saying hi to her or something, I lost it. I said, ‘Who the hell’s he, saying hi to my wife.’ Even though he was cool with me. Maybe he was just being respectful, all he was being respectful. Nothing ever happened.”
Joshua will face Paul on Friday, December 19. The fight is being staged at the Kaseya Center in Miami and the main event is expected to start at around 3.30am UK time with the bout live on Netflix.