Anthony Joshua spent his early childhood partly in Nigeria and then mainly grew up in Watford, on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, England.

Early years in Nigeria

  • Joshua spent some of his earliest years living in Nigeria, where he attended boarding school at Mayflower School in Ikenne and also lived in Sagamu, Ogun State.
  • He returned to the UK around age 12 after his parents’ divorce, leaving his Nigerian boarding school life behind for secondary school in England.

Growing up in Watford

  • After moving back, he grew up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, a neighborhood in Watford, Hertfordshire, where friends and teachers knew him by the nickname “Femi.”
  • The Meriden Estate is known as a tough area with crime and drugs, and Joshua has spoken about how those surroundings pushed him into fights and trouble as a teenager before boxing redirected his path.

Short recap

  • Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
  • Early childhood: Nigeria (boarding school and family life).
  • Main upbringing: Meriden Estate in Garston, Watford, after returning to the UK around age 12.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.