Anthony Joshua may now be a unified world heavyweight champion but just over five years ago he was still an amateur preparing for his first Olympic games.
Despite only taking up the sport at a rather late stage in his teenage years, aged 18, Joshua soon began to make an impression, clinching his first tournament victory at the ABA National Championships just three years later.
Keen to continue learning about all the different aspects of boxing, Joshua declined a rather lucrative offer of £50,000 to turn professional in 2010 and kept working hard in the amateur ranks.
His stock continued to rise after emerging victorious at the same tournament the following year and it was not long before he was stepping into the ring with opponents from around the world.
Ahead of the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships Joshua didn’t have the biggest reputation globally but soon made everyone sit up and take note, beating the then reigning World & Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle on the way to clinching silver.
The Watford-born fighter was just one point away from scooping the top prize but he had still comfortably booked a place at one of the biggest sporting events, the Olympics.
With the 2012 tournament taking place in London there was something a bit more special about Joshua competing at the event.
Even though there was a lot of expectation on him to perform following his impressive showing in Azerbaijan the year before he was still one of the more inexperienced fighters on the international scene.
Pitted against Erislandy Savon, who was ranked number four in the world by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), it was a tough introduction to the Olympics for Joshua.
Despite there being a lot of controversy around the decision, Joshua was awarded the victory after a bruising three-round contest against the Cuban.
After a tricky start, Joshua continued to grow throughout the event, showing too much for 2008 Olympic silver medallist Zhang Zhilei, who was knocked to the canvas on the way to a unanimous defeat.
Next up was an opponent who had a significantly greater reach and stood much taller than Joshua yet the Brit demonstrated great ring craft to outbox Ukraine’s Ivan Dychko.
Just four years after first putting on a pair of boxing gloves Joshua was about to compete for an Olympic gold medal.
In order to become a hero for his country Joshua would need to stop Cammarelle once again. With a great deal of experience on his side at the highest level there were some that wondered whether it may be a step too far for Joshua.
From the outset the Italian looked to have too much for the home fighter taking the first two rounds but Joshua never gave in and fought back valiantly to clinch the final round and level the scores.
Although some critics weren’t happy with count-back decision which meant Joshua won gold, he had made an impressive attempt to turn the fight on its head in the closing stages.
Regardless of the controversy Joshua was now an Olympic champion at the age of just 22.
For someone who showed more of an interest during football and athletics at school, Joshua’s incredible rise in such a short space of time was a clear indicator of his passion for the sport.
