Boxing heavyweight Anthony Joshua has confirmed he is relocating to Dubai, filing paperwork that formally lists the United Arab Emirates as his country of residence. The region is currently facing sustained drone attacks from Iran, with thousands of British nationals scrambling to leave.
The former heavyweight world champion, made the move official through filings for two of his companies, Sparta Promotions Limited and 258 Investments Limited, submitted on Friday. Both documents carry the legal requirement to state the director’s country of residence, and both now point squarely to Dubai.
The timing could hardly be more striking. The UAE has come under nightly assault from Iranian suicide drones in recent weeks, with footage circulating on social media showing Saturday’s drone strike on Dubai International Airport, forcing the facility to close and stranding passengers in the terminal. Some British nationals caught in Dubai when the conflict escalated have paid as much as £100,000 to secure evacuation via private jet.
Joshua, born in Watford of Nigerian heritage and a gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, has received both an OBE and an MBE during his career. His move now makes him the latest high-profile wealthy Briton to plant roots overseas, joining Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, both of whom are based in Monaco, and Pimlico Plumbers tycoon Charlie Mullins, who has settled in Marbella.
The financial logic behind the move is considerable. Dubai levies no income tax, a significant consideration for someone of Joshua’s wealth. His company Sparta Promotions recorded profits of £20.396 million in 2024 and paid £6.65 million in UK tax that year. Joshua personally received a dividend payment of £10.1 million in 2024 and £6.3 million the year prior — income that would have attracted UK tax liability while he remained a domestic resident.
Under HMRC rules, individuals who spend fewer than 16 days per year in the UK are not considered tax residents. Those spending between 16 and 183 days face scrutiny through the agency’s complex Statutory Residence Test, which weighs time spent in each country alongside established personal and professional ties. To fully maximize any potential tax saving, Joshua could find himself limited to spending barely two weeks a year on British soil.
Joshua has long been a familiar face in Dubai, using the city’s world-class facilities for training and holidays and lending his name to various brand promotions there. In one of his most memorable appearances, he held a sparring session in 2017 on the helipad of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, a 90-foot wide platform suspended some 700 feet above the sea. More recently, he dined with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn in the city late last year and returned in February for training sessions alongside MMA star Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The relocation also follows one of the most painful chapters of Joshua’s personal life. A road accident in Nigeria last year claimed the lives of two people close to him: personal trainer Kevin “Latz” Ayodele and long-time therapist Sina Ghami.
Joshua has spoken little publicly about the loss, though he recently shared images of his physical recovery on Snapchat, captioning the post: “Rehabilitation protocol. When you go thru certain things, you realise that you are stronger than you think you are.”
It remains unclear precisely where in Dubai Joshua plans to settle permanently. In December, it emerged that he had invested £1.2 million in a 15,300 square foot penthouse called the Sky Palace in Oman’s Sultan Haitham City development, roughly 300 miles from Dubai. However, that property is believed to be held as an investment rather than a primary home.
Meanwhile, analysts have suggested the ongoing conflict could push Dubai property prices down by as much as 20 percent.
