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The former heavyweight world champion, 36, has formally changed his country of residence to the United Arab Emirates, with filings for two of his companies, Sparta Promotions Limited and 258 Investments Limited, both reflecting the switch.
The disclosure, buried in routine corporate documentation submitted last Friday, confirms what many in his circle had long anticipated: that Dubai, long a second home for the Watford-born boxer, is now his primary base.
The timing is striking. The UAE is currently under sustained attack from Iranian suicide drones as part of the broader US-Israel-Iran conflict, with thousands of British nationals in Dubai scrambling to leave, some paying as much as £100,000 for private jet evacuations. Joshua pressed ahead regardless.
The financial logic is not hard to follow. Dubai levies no income tax, a consideration that carries significant weight for someone of Joshua's earning profile. His company Sparta Promotions reported profits of £20.4 million in 2024 and paid £6.65 million in UK tax the same year. Joshua personally received dividend payments of £10.1 million in 2024 and £6.3 million in 2023, both of which would have been subject to UK tax under his previous residential status.
Joshua, who was born in Watford to Nigerian parents, won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and holds both an OBE and MBE. He has long used Dubai's sporting facilities for training camps and has maintained a visible presence there for years, including a now-famous 2017 sparring session on the Burj Al Arab's helipad, 700 feet above the sea. More recently, he dined with promoter Eddie Hearn in the city late last year and trained with MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov there last month.
The move follows a deeply difficult period in Joshua's personal life. Last year, two of his closest associates, personal trainer Kevin Ayodele and long-time therapist Sina Ghami, were killed in a road accident in Nigeria. Joshua has spoken about the emotional weight of that loss and recently posted images of physical rehabilitation work on his ribs, captioning the post with a note about resilience.
He joins a growing list of high-profile wealthy Britons who have formally based themselves abroad, including Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, both resident in Monaco, and Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins, who is in Marbella.
For Joshua, the shift marks a new chapter, professionally and personally, anchored in a city he has clearly long considered home.
