Fighting is in Anthony Joshua’s “bloodline”, according to his cousin Raymond Ajakaye, who lives in the Nigerian town of Sagamu that is the ancestral home of the Joshua family.
The town is expected to grind to a halt on Friday when hundreds of people will assemble to watch special screenings of the British boxer’s heavyweight contest against Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou – to cheer on the man they see as their own.
“It runs in the family, we’re all tough people, from my grandad, my uncles and his dad,” Ajakaye tells BBC Sport Africa.
“We fought through a lot. This is where I would think he got the [boxing] gift from.”
Located near Lagos in south-west Nigeria, Sagamu has a population of around half a million people.
Like the country as a whole, that population skews towards the younger age range, meaning many youngsters have found inspiration in Joshua’s family heritage and his success in the ring
Such has been his impact, the town has its own Anthony Joshua Fan Club, with thousands of followers on social media, while a street has also been renamed in honour of the 34-year-old Olympic and two-time world heavyweight champion.
“The road was called Cinema Road for many years but it was changed by the government in recognition of his [Joshua’s] achievements,” says Ajakaye.
“We have an office set up here to become a meeting point for all his fans.”
Not only does the road serve as a meeting place for acolytes, but there are also plans in place to build a gym to hunt for the next AJ.
A local primary school is one of the buildings found on Anthony Joshua Way, the road named after the British boxer in Sagamu
Joshua’s love for Nigeria
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was born in the UK in October 1989 to a Nigerian mother and a father of Nigerian and Irish descent.
Although he has always fought under a British flag, he spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, attending a boarding school, and the influence that Africa – and more specifically Nigeria – has had on him is clear for all to see and hear.
Joshua has an outline tattoo of the continent on his right shoulder, with Nigeria’s border also highlighted, while he has used the music of Nigerian icons like Burna Boy and Femi Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, to accompany him on previous ring-walks.
His fights are shown on specially erected screens in front of the palace of the Akarigbo in Sagamu, the Nigerian town’s paramount ruler.
BBC
