Anthony Joshua with his Endorsements and Sponsorships:
Anthony Joshua, full name being Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua is a professional British Boxer born on the 15thOctober 1989 making him 31 years of age. Anthony Joshua started his boxing career at an early age of 18 years old however he became a professional in 2011 representing Great Britain at the 2011 world championships. Today he is a two time former united world heavyweight champion and dominating the boxing world, putting a name out for Britain.
So moving onto what my blog is going to be on today, it will be about the famous Anthony Joshua and the endorsements and sponsorships that he has.
UNDER ARMOUR:
Under Armour is mostly known for the sport wear that they have. They cover all aspects of the activewear from their outwear such as jumpers, hoodies, shoes and headphones.
When thinking about celebrity endorsements and boxing the main person that comes into my head is Anthony Joshua and how much he advertises the brand under armour. I say this mainly because AJ is a star in the boxing world and whenever he is at one of his fights, he is dressed head to toe in under armour gear, therefore it reaching a much more wider audience as whenever boxing does happen it is always on worldwide channels and people from other sides of the world would be hearing about the brand under armour, which allows it to gain a wider reach. This is because AJ’s previous fight was with USYK a Ukraine boxer. As a result of this, Under Armour is now being reached to a wider markets such as Ukraine as they would be seeing AJ being the model and face of the brand and reaching a much more wider market without the brand itself investing anything into advertising.
Furthermore, as AJ has a high following on different social media platforms. He has a big factor of peoples buying habits as he is also the face of the brand. I say this is because on Instagram, he has 13million followers therefore whenever he posts a picture on the platform it has a substantial reach. Thus, when he posts a picture or video of him wearing under armour when he is training it inspires a lot of people to get into shape and the first thing that they would think about would be them wanting to dress like him as well. As he is also the face of the brand
In addition to this, in early 2020 when his sponsorship was coming to an end Under Armour offered to extend his endorsement and he did accept this offer, therefore meaning that this must have been highly profitable for both Anthony and Under Armour. (Josh Katzowitz 2020)
HUGO BOSS:
On the other hand of the spectrum, Anthony Joshua has an endorsement with a luxury retail brand as well. This being the famous Hugo Boss which sells anything from jeans, t-shirts to luxury tailored suits.
Anthony Joshua was the face of Hugo Boss’s tailoring line in 2018. This clearly showed that Hugo Boss appealed to a wider audience as AJ had that sporty body shape where the normal suits you’d go for wouldn’t fit right. Therefore, by doing this Hugo Boss showed their consumers that they can appeal to them.
As mentioned before when Anthony Joshua goes out in the boxing ring that’s when the main bit of advertising is happening as he is representing the brand. So, when he is out wearing the tracksuits mainly (which he has a specific clothing line for on the Hugo Boss website) attracts a wider market towards Hugo Boss.
What I think about these endorsements and Anthony Joshua?
So, what I think firstly about Anthony Joshua is that he is doing exceptionally well in the boxing world as he group up in London with a bad young adult life to begin with as he got arrested a couple of times and went to prison, (Michael Benson, 2020) which now he speaks openly about. So for a lot of youngsters such as myself who group up in parts of London which were not the best is truly an inspiration to a lot of young adults like myself in which one day aspire to be like him.
Moving on to the endorsements with the brands especially with Under Armour I believe he has done an amazing choice with continuing to partner with them as from a fans point of view if he was to change to a different brand that would lead to a lot of confusion.
Him partnering up with Hugo Boss has made me realise that brands can sponsor a big Athlete like AJ and without just being a sporting brand.
According to ED Dixon (2021) AJ also has an endorsement with a CBD company called Love Hemp and as of 21 June 2021 is a named shareholder and has planes of developing CBD products to athletes.
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to read my blog!
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
References:
Josh Katzowitz (06/04/2020) “Anthony Joshua extending his under armour endorsement”. (Accessed 05/10/2021) Avaliable at:
Michael Benson (15/12/2020) “Anthony joshua was being open about him going to Prison” (Accessed 05/10/2021) Available at:
ED Dixon (21/06/2021) “heavy weight world champion to develop CBD products for Athletes” (Accessed 06/10/2021) Available at:
- https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/anthony-joshua-love-hemp-cbd-shareholder-brand-ambassador-boxing
Image 1 QMECOM (10/09/2021) (Accessed 06/l0/2021) Available at:
Image 2: Hugo Boss “Its time to boss up”, (Accessed 6/10/2021) Available at:
Image 3 Hugo Boss” I’d get my trainers tailored if I could”. (Accessed 06/10/2021) Available at:
Souhaib Ghafouri 
I agree with that statement that you made about how non sporting brands can still sponsor athletes like AJ. Good insight on celebrity sponsorships!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You Faiza for the comment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed reading this post Shib. This is very informative. Brands such as Hugo Boss partnering with AJ does show that brands unrelated to boxing can be versatile. Great post !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great backstory and informative about AJ with his current endorsements. I also do believe that he brings a lot sales to under armor from his Instagram videos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mad props to AJ, he deserves all the recognition and sponsorships he’s currently getting/will receive in the future. I never knew he was sponsored by Hugo Boss, but it would make sense as the quality and style of HB trackies look so much better now. Very informative and a fun read 🙂
LikeLike
Hahah I wish I was AJ. Not in the ring but as businessman. The sponsorship he has suits the profile he is trying to portray.
I enjoyed reading the back story of AJ.
Can’t wait for the next blogs !
LikeLike
Definitely a strong believer in using celebrities to their advantage re advertising. Great example with Under Armour.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Endorsing and Sponsoring an athlete is a strategic way of communicating with consumers. AJ has the trust and credibility of his social media followers. Wearing branded clothing encourages his followers to do the same because they want to be like him.
LikeLike
Endorsing and Sponsoring an athlete is a strategic way of communicating with consumers. AJ has the trust and credibility of his social media followers. Wearing branded clothing encourages his followers to do the same because they want to be like him.
LikeLike
This is a great blog. I do believe using celebrities can definitely increase awareness of brands through their fans/audience/following.
Also, you can be like him too. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in boxing or as a celebrity, but in the message he is trying to portray the world to become a better person, not letting your past or surroundings define you.
LikeLike