Joshua Trains with Usyk’s Team for Fight vs. Jake Paul: Exclusive Details

Anthony Joshua has confirmed that he will not train under the tutelage of Ben Davison for his next fight against Jake Paul in December. Instead, he will prepare with members of Oleksandr Usyk’s team. Joshua (28-4, 24 KOs) will face Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-round professional heavyweight bout on December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The British boxer hasn’t fought since his knockout loss in the fifth round to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, after undergoing elbow surgery earlier this year. In a press conference prior to the fight on Friday, Joshua confirmed that he has been training at the base of heavyweight champion Usyk in Spain and will do so before the fight against Paul, instead of with Davison in the UK. Joshua has worked with Davison, former coach of Tyson Fury, since the preparation for his fight against Otto Wallin in 2023.

I won’t be trained by Ben Davison, I said London is a bit distracting for me, so I was invited to train with the Usyk team. I’ve been in Spain, we’ve been doing good training.

Anthony Joshua

Joshua added:

He [Usyk] is one of the best in the world. It’s not just him, it’s his team around him. I related to them, getting a vision of how someone has achieved so much.

Anthony Joshua

“It has been phenomenal. It has been a great experience and it is very challenging.”

Although he said he hasn’t sparred with Usyk, Joshua confirmed that the Ukrainian has been in and out of the camp in the last two months. Joshua has fought Usyk twice, suffering consecutive points defeats in 2021 and 2022. The former Olympic gold medalist insisted that he is taking the fight against Paul, who has only had 13 fights, seriously, and will seek to make a statement when they face each other in the ring.

I’m going to break his face, I’m going to destroy his body, I’m going to trample him.

Anthony Joshua

“That’s my mentality, that’s the mentality of a fighter. I know what’s in my heart, what’s in my mind. I’m here to compete.” Paul was very confident that he could cause a big surprise, predicting that he would knock out Joshua in the “4th or 5th round”.