Innocent Anyanwu was born in Ekwerazu, Imo State, Nigeria. When he was 12 his mother died and Innocent quit school. Shortly thereafter he started to work as a carmechanic in his brother's garage. However he had a dream to practise sports in Germany, even though he did not know which sport. He left Nigeria when he was 16 and went to Cameroon without a passport because he did not have one. Once in Cameroon, the language barrier proved a problem. Still, after that he went to another French speaking country, Gabon, where a brother of his was living. Through German tourists, Innocent learned that he needed several visas in order to compete in sports there. Since he did not have a passport, Innocent never went to Europe.
Boxing career
Innocent started his boxing career in Amsterdam, the Netherlandsin 2001. After promising his trainer Martin Jansen total dedication to the sport, an intense training regime started and the cooperation continued until today. After three months Innocent participated in his first boxing match which he won. The victory parade of Innocent continued through the amateur ranks in national and international boxing matches in The Netherlands. Innocent fought against boxers from not only the Netherlands but also from Belgium, Russia and Germany. With only 3 losses in 36 contests, and many wins by KO, Innocent wanted to represent the Netherlands at the Olympics in Athens but was denied because he did not hold Dutch nationality. Innocent then went back to his native country Nigeria where he captured the national amateur title and Champion of Champions trophy at super-featherweight. That enabled Innocent to return to the Netherlands and reunite in 2005 with his longtime boxing trainer Martin Jansen to continue his professional boxing career. In 2005, Innocent made his pro debut. He fought 20 times up to October 2009 in and outside the Netherlands and never lost a fight. He captured the Dutch national and smaller European crown. Innocent's goal is to support his people in Ekwerazu, Nigeria through his boxing career. His results as a sportsman and social human being were awarded by the Dutch Queen with a Dutch passport, which enables him to participate on short notice in a European championship fight. Innocent is ranked in September 2009 as the no. 1 with the ABU, the no. 40 with the WBC and in Europe ranked as an official challenger for the European crown. From the start of 2010 Martin Jansen stopped working as the trainer for Innocent, but Raymond Joval stepped in as the new trainer.
