Anthony Joshua Visits Sagamu, Spotted at Akarigbo’s Palace

Duro Ikhazuagbe

World heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, was on a short visit to his birthplace, Sagamu in Ogun State Thursday.

The British boxer who regained his heavyweight titles from Mexican Andy Ruiz last December in Saudi Arabia was spotted at the Palace of the Akarigbo of Remo in Sagamu at about 1pm.

Although details of his visit remain sketchy as there was no official statement from the palace on the visit of their illustrious son, Head of the Anthony Joshua Supporters Club in Sagamu fondly known as Mr Naira, confirmed the presence of the boxer to reporters.

On Tuesday afternoon, picture of Anthony Joshua trended on the social media with him displaying his new Nigerian NIN identity card. He was flanked by two unnamed officials.

There was also no mention of where he was presented with the identity card, unconfirmed sources said AJ was registered in Abeokuta.

That first created the speculation that the heavyweight boxer was likely in the country on a private visit.

On January 18, Anthony Joshua presented his World heavyweight boxing belts to the President Muhammadu Buhari in the United Kingdom. Joshua’s visit to Buhari was well celebrated in the local media with the picture of the gangling boxer fully postrated before the President in typical Yoruba son greeting of an elder.

The ‘Dobale’ picture also trended on the social media for days with thousands of comments eulogizing him for not forgetting his Yoruba ancestry despite fighting as a Briton.

Anthony Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother, Yeta Odusanya and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent, Robert, in 1989.
He made his debut alongside his cousin, Ben Illeyemi, who is also a professional boxer, in 2013.

According to reports, Joshua spent some of his early years in Nigeria and was a boarding school student at Mayflower School in Ikenne.
He was said to return to the United Kingdom when he was 12 years old.

His father’s family name is popular in Ijokun, Sagamu area of Ogun State.