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, Zimbabwe, where he grew up with his parents and two brothers. When Maphosa was 9, his father, a mathematics teacher and part-time accountant, emigrated to the U.K. in an attempt to find work. He had a wife and three sons. His father eventually settled in Middlesbrough, England, 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 box Antwun Echols 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; in 2012 he was defeated by Reece Bellotti in the bantamweight final and fell short against Sunny Edwards in the 2015 light-flyweight final. He also competed for the British Lionhearts at the 2015 World Series of Boxing, losing a split decision to Cuban Domadores' Joahnys Argilagos at the York Hall in London.
Professional career Signed with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, Maphosa made his professional debut on 13 May 2017, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Gary Reeve at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.
Following four consecutive wins, he scored his first stoppage victory on 28 April 2018 at the Temple Park Leisure Centre in South Shields, stopping Steven Maguire via technical knockout (TKO) in the fourth and final round.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes10Win10–0 Moises MojicaPTS629 Feb 20209Win9–0 Marius VysniauskasPTS813 Dec 20198Win8–0 Louis NormanPTS616 Mar 20197Win7–0 Steven MaguirePTS424 Nov 20186Win6–0 Gyula DoduPTS46 Oct 20185Win5–0 Steven Maguire4 (4), 28 Apr 20184Win4–0 Gary ReevePTS410 Mar 20183Win3–0 Craig DerbyshirePTS411 Nov 20172Win2–0 Anwar AlfadliPTS417 Sep 20171Win1–0 Gary Reeve413 May 2017
References