World heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, says he is ready to stand up for Nigeria anytime he’s needed to do so.
He said this at a meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Saturday, in the United Kingdom.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Joshua was the cynosure of the meeting held with a select group of the Nigerian Community in the United Kingdom.
“The President congratulated the current World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Anthony Joshua, who was the cynosure of all eyes during the meeting, on regaining his world championship belt, as well as putting Nigeria on the world map again like Hogan Bassey,” the statement added.
On his part, Joshua, who later presented his belts to the President, pledged to “stand up for Nigeria anytime you need me.”
The meeting was coordinated by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
In a video and picture that surfaced online, the heavyweight champion was seen prostrating before the President. He also presented his heavyweight belts to the president, an action which attracted accolades from the president’s aides and his family members, who attended the meeting.
Recall that Joshua reclaimed his titles from Andy Ruiz Jr, a Mexican boxer, six months after the Nigerian-born-boxer lost the titles.
The British boxer was born to a Nigerian-Irish father, Robert Joshua, and a Nigerian mother, Yeta Odusanya. Joshua’s father (Robert) is the grandson of one of Sagamu’s greatest men and late patriarch Omo-Oba Daniel Adebambo Joshua, who was born in 1882.
