As of May 2017, Anthony Joshua is ranked as the world's best heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, the second British boxer, after which British professional boxer, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so?
Anthony Joshua As of May 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world's best heavyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec, and second best by "The Ring". His knockout-to-win ratio stands at 100%. Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so. He is also the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight.
Darkie Smith John "Darkie" Smith (born 1942) is a British former boxer, now employed in boxing training and boxing matchmaking. By birth a Romany Gypsy, Darkie fought in the UK until the age of 30. He served an apprenticeship under the pro trainer George Francis before setting out on his own. Smith has worked as a trainer in the UK, France, Spain, Majorca, the USA and Germany. Fighters trained to world titles include heavyweight Herbie Hide, light heavyweight and cruiserweight Fabrice Tiozzo, super middleweight Christophe Tiozzo and light welterweight Stephen Smith. He has also trained European, Commonwealth and British champions, and worked with other future champions during the early stages of their careers. These fighters include European Heavyweight Champion Zeljko Mavrovic and future world champion Chris Eubank. Darkie's work with Mavrovic drew much attention. Mavrovic was trained exclusively by Smith for five years, winning and defending his European title and finishing with a record of one defeat in thirty bouts. The one defeat amounted to a points decision against world champion Lennox Lewis, in a bout that saw Mavrovic concede a significant weight advantage.