London 2012: Anthony Joshua secures Olympic medal but won’t settle for bronze

By Dan Mobbs
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
10:56 AM

Finchley’s super heavyweight Anthony Joshua has guaranteed himself an Olympic medal after defeating China’s Zhilei Zhang in the quarter-finals - but he has set his sights on going “all the way”.

The 22-year-old, who trains at Finchley Boxing Club and lives in Golders Green, floored the Beijing silver medalist with a right hook in the second round.

Zhang recovered in the third, but he was soundly outpointed 15-11 by Joshua, who had defeated Cuba’s Erislandy Savon by a judges’ decision in his opening bout of London 2012.

The victory guarantees Britain at least four medals in the ring and Joshua will now face Kazakh Ivan Dychko in the semi-final at the ExCel Arena on Friday.

Having won silver at last year’s World Championships, he now has the chance to emulate Audley Harrison and Lennox Lewis, whom he credits for his current success.

“I’m glad I’ve got the medal but I want to go all the way,” said Joshua. “Every fight is a learning curve for me and Lennox has advised me to use my jab more. I also know I must keep my feet on the ground.

“That’s what a medal represents – it’s the journey, and it won’t stop here. I’m just going to get tougher.”

The four medals is Britain’s best haul in the ring since the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, and Joshua is now focused on gold.

He said: “It’s going to be tough but I’ve got a good win here and there’s going to be some positive energy.”