Anthony Joshua, James DeGale: The four Brits to win Olympic gold and a world title

Since then, Britain has gone on to become one of the most successful nations in both amateur and professional boxing. Britain has the third-highest medal tally in Olympic boxing history, and the third-highest number of professional world champions.

Despite the success in both codes of boxing, there remains a very exclusive club of seven fighters who have won both an Olympic medal and a world title. But the numbers dwindle even further when you look at who has won a gold medal and then also gone on to win a world title. 

There are only four fighters who have reached the pinnacle of both the amateur and professional game. It is a recent phenomenon, with James DeGale the first man to do it in 2015. 

The British boxing legend will make his return to the ring this weekend, but without any gloves as he debuts in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship against Matt Floyd. 

In honour of the reemergence of this history maker, here are the fighters who have won gold at the Olympics and then a world title as a professional. 

James DeGale

Through the mid-2000s James De Gale was arguably Great Britain’s most successful amateur boxer, winning back-to-back silvers at the EU championships and two medals at the Commonwealth events, including a gold in 2005, all before heading to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as a strong medal hopeful. 

On his way to the final, DeGale had a less than favourable run and was forced to beat the previous gold medallist Bakhatir Artayev, and Darren Sutherland, who had a 4-1 record against DeGale. 

In the final, he came up against the Cuban Emilio Correa. It was a close and bad-tempered fight that saw Correa deducted two points in the first round for biting the Brit’s shoulder, which made DeGale’s job that much easier. 

Returning as a national hero, DeGale shortly turned professional with Queensberry Promotions and made a promising start before losing to George Groves for the British and Commonwealth titles. 

But DeGale was not deterred and continued unbeaten until 2015 when he fought Andre Dirrell for the IBF super middleweight title Carl Froch had vacated. 

He defeated Dirrell via unanimous decision and became the first Olympic gold medallist from Britain to win a professional world title. 

DeGale lost his IBF title in 2017 to Caleb Traux but reclaimed it in the immediate rematch, becoming a two-time super middleweight champion. 

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Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua arrived late to boxing but took no time in announcing himself on the amateur scene, claiming two national titles and a European silver medal ahead of the 2012 games in London. 

As a novice in the international amateur game, Joshua shocked the world by winning a gold medal, defeating previous silver medallist and current heavyweight contender Zhilei Zhang, before toppling the reigning champion Roberto Cammarelle in a razor-thin decision in the final.

Joshua was hailed as the next Great British heavyweight hope, and he more than delivered on that label upon turning professional with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. 

He proved all his supporters right, winning his first 15 fights within the distance before he finally got his first shot at a world title against Charles Martin.

Joshua put on one of his most dominating performances to knock out an unwilling Martin in the second round and claim the IBF heavyweight title - following in the footsteps of DeGale, as he lost out on becoming the first person to do it by only a few months.

Joshua would go on to become the unified champion, holding all but the WBC belt not once but twice before finally forfeiting them to an all-time great, Oleksandr Usyk, in 2021.

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Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams is without doubt an icon of Great British boxing and a trailblazer. She is the most successful British amateur boxer of all time with four world championships, four European and one Commonwealth medal – not counting her double Olympic success. 

Adams competed alongside Anthony Joshua in the 2012 Olympic Games, beating the number one Flyweight in the world, Ren Cancan, in the final to become the first woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal for boxing. 

She repeated this success four years later in Rio, where she defeated France’s Sarah Ourahmoune to cement herself as an Olympic legend.

Adams’ professional career was short, only turning over when she was 34 in 2017 with Queensberry Promotions, and quickly became the ‘Queen of Queensberry’. 

But she went undefeated in her first four fights, getting stoppages in three of those appearances – earning herself a shot at the WBO interim flyweight title in 2018 and handily beating Isable Millan via unanimous decision.

Her interim title was elevated in 2019 after Arely Mucino could not compete through injury, and therefore, crowned Adams as the WBO flyweight champion without having to fight for it. 

She defended the title once, retaining it on a split decision draw against Marina Salinas. Then, at 37, she decided to call time on her career and retired at the top of the sport. 

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Lauren Price

Lauren Price was not always a boxer; she was also an international-level football player, representing both Cardiff City FC and Wales as a professional. But thankfully, she chose the ring over the pitch.

She has proven to be one of the best products the GB boxing programme has ever produced, claiming a European and Olympic gold medal whilst representing the United Kingdom. 

That does not include her time representing Wales, where she won two world championships, one European and two Commonwealth medals. 

Lauren Price made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first boxer from Wales to win any Olympic gold medal. She beat Nouchka Fontijn and Li Quan on her way to this monumental achievement. 

After making her professional debut in 2022, it was abundantly clear that Price was levels above her initial opposition and after only six fights she found herself with an opportunity to become the latest to win a gold medal and world title against Jessica McCaskill in 2024. 

A clash of heads and a cut to McCaskill in the ninth round took the fight prematurely took the fight to the scorecards, but Price had done enough to take the win and become Wales’s first female world champion. 

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Honourable mention 

It would be remiss not to mention Britain’s other 2020 Olympic Gold medallist, Galal Yafai, who currently stands on the brink of joining the exclusive club of amateur and professional champions as he is in possession of the WBC interim flyweight title.

Yafai won his gold medal alongside Lauren Price to add to his collection of two European silvers and Commonwealth gold. 

He competed unsuccessfully in the 2016 Olympics, but returned five years later, fighting all the way to the final and beating Carlo Paalam of the Philippines.

Yafai made fast progress as a professional, winning the WBC international flyweight title in his first fight, remaining undefeated and then beating former world champion Sunny Edwards to become the interim champion. 

It looked as though he was handed his first loss after being bested by Francisco Rodriguez Jr earlier this year, but the Mexican failed a drug test, and the fight was ruled a no-contest. Yafai’s interim title was returned. 

The WBC have since ordered Yafai to face the WBC flyweight champion Ricardo Sandoval, giving him the chance to claim a world title to go with his gold medal after just 10 fights. 

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