Joseph Maphosa (born 7 April 1994) is a Zimbabwe-born British professional boxer.

Early life

Joseph Maphosa was born on 7 April 1994 in

Beitbridge Beitbridge is a border town in the province of Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. The name also refers to the border post and bridge spanning the Limpopo River, which forms the political border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The border on the S ...

, Zimbabwe, where he grew up with his parents and two brothers. When Maphosa was 9, his father, a maths teacher and part-time accountant, emigrated to England in an attempt to find work and provide a better life for his wife and three sons. His father eventually settled in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, and after saving up enough money Joe and his two brothers flew to England to join his father. He attended St. Pius X primary school in Middlesbrough where he gained an interest in cricket. His interest in boxing came after watching Bernard Hopkins fight on TV, saying, "I enjoyed playing cricket and running around in the playground at school, but then I saw a clip of Bernard Hopkins on TV and I liked what he was doing so I decided to get myself to a Boxercise class for general fitness to begin with but and that led onto me going to Middlesbrough ABC and from there I have never looked back."

Amateur career

In an amateur career that spanned 75 fights with approximately 60 wins, Maphosa reached the finals of two

ABA Championships The England Boxing National Amateur Championships previously known as the ABA Championships is the premier boxing tournament hosted annually by England Boxing. The Championships are 'open' class: any Boxing, boxer who is registered with a club r ...

; in 2012 he was defeated by Reece Bellotti in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

final and fell short against

Sunny Edwards Sunny Edwards (born 1 January 1996) is a British professional boxer who has held the IBF flyweight title since 2021. He is the younger brother of boxer Charlie Edwards. As of September 2021, he is ranked as the world's best active flyweight by ...

in the 2015 light-flyweight final. He also competed for the British Lionhearts at the 2015 World Series of Boxing, losing a

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

to Cuban Domadores'

Joahnys Argilagos Joahnys Oscar Argilagos Perez (born 11 January 1997) is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics as well as winning a gold medal at both the 2015 and 2017 World Championships. Argilagos took ...

at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Professional career

Signed with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, Maphosa made his professional debut on 13 May 2017, scoring a four-round

points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges that agree on whic ...

(PTS) victory over Gary Reeve at the

First Direct Arena The First Direct Arena (also known as the Leeds Arena) is an entertainment-focused indoor arena located in the Arena Quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the first in the United Kingdom to have a fan-shaped orientation. The arena o ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, England. Following four consecutive wins, he scored his first stoppage victory on 28 April 2018 at the Temple Park Leisure Centre in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, stopping Steven Maguire via

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) in the fourth and final round.

Professional boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maphosa, Joe Living people 1994 births British male boxers Zimbabwean male boxers Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Sportspeople from Matabeleland South Province Flyweight boxers