Anthony Joshua has revealed that he will not be training with Ben Davison for his upcoming fight against Jake Paul in December. Instead, he plans to prepare with members of Oleksandr Usyk’s team. Joshua (28-4, 24 KOs) is set to face Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-round professional heavyweight match on December 19th at the Caseya Center in Miami.
The British boxer, who had elbow surgery earlier this year, has not competed since his fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. During a pre-fight press conference on Friday, Joshua confirmed that he has been training at Usyk’s base in Spain rather than working with Davison in the UK. Davison, who previously coached Tyson Fury, had been Joshua’s trainer since his 2023 fight against Otto Wallin.
Joshua explained, “I won’t be training with Ben Davison. He said London would be a bit of a distraction, so he invited me to train with Team Usyk. I went to Spain and have been training well.” He praised Usyk, saying, “He’s one of the best fighters in the world. It’s not just because of him, but also the team around him. I worked with them and gained insight into how someone achieves so much.”
Although Joshua hasn’t sparred with Usyk himself, the Ukrainian has been in and out of the training camp over the last two months. Joshua has lost twice to Usyk on points in 2021 and 2022. Despite Jake Paul having only 13 professional fights, Joshua is taking the matchup seriously, declaring, “I’m going to dismantle his face, dismantle his body, and dominate him. That’s my mentality, that’s a fighter’s mentality. I know what’s in my heart, what’s in my head. I’m here to compete.”
Meanwhile, Paul exuded confidence and predicted he would knock Joshua out in rounds 4 or 5.
Fan Take: This development is significant for fight fans as it highlights Joshua’s strategic shift in training, which could greatly impact his performance against the unconventional and unpredictable Jake Paul. The fight holds potential to either reinforce traditional boxing dominance or signal a changing landscape where crossover stars like Paul challenge the status quo.
