Anthony Joshua has said he will change trainer again ahead of his unexpected boxing match with Jake Paul.
On 19 December, Joshua will fight the YouTuber-turned-boxer at Miami’s Kaseya Center, with the heavyweight fight going down as a professional contest and streaming live on Netflix.
Ahead of that fight, scheduled for eight three-minute rounds in standard 10oz gloves, Joshua has been training with Oleksandr Usyk’s team – those around the modern great, who outpointed “AJ” in 2021 and 2022.
In recent years, Joshua, 36, has switched trainers numerous times, going from his longtime coach Robert McCracken to Robert Garcia, then Derrick James, then Ben Davison.
Davison was in Joshua’s corner for his most-recent fight, a brutal loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, in which AJ was dropped four times by his fellow Briton. Now Joshua has revealed that Davison will not be in his corner for the Paul contest.
“No, I won’t be trained by Ben Davison,” Joshua said at a press conference on Friday, as he shared the stage with Paul, 28, at the Kaseya Center.
“I said that London’s a bit distracting to me. I was invited to train with Team Usyk, so we’ve been doing some good training in Spain. He’s one of the best in the world, [that’s] also down to his team.
“I don’t spar with Usyk. He’s been somewhere else, he’s in and out of camp, [but] Ben said: ‘One hundred per cent, that’s a great move [to join Team Usyk].’ They’re killing me, drilling me.
Joshua said “Igor” will be his head coach on 19 December, although it is unclear to whom he was referring. Yuri Tkachenko is the longtime trainer of Usyk, who was undisputed cruiserweight champion before becoming a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
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Joshua will carry a 28-4 (25 KOs) record into his bout with Paul, who is 12-1 (7 KOs) as a pro. Most recently, in June, Paul outpointed former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr – son of the legendary Chavez Sr.
That bout took place at cruiserweight, where Paul typically fights, but the American will face Joshua at heavyweight. Twelve months ago, Paul outpointed boxing legend Mike Tyson at heavyweight, with “Iron Mike” 58 years old at the time.
“You’ve got to give credit to Jake and his team,” said Joshua on Friday. “They reached out to me, to be fair. It was a great opportunity for me, it’s an opportunity for me to fight. It’s great, it’s massive, it’s colossal. It’s bringing big news. We’re bringing marketability together with ability – those two worlds.
“I don’t think Jake’s crazy, I think he’s a logical person. He’s got good people around him who know something about Jake – something that maybe we don’t know. All he needs is belief in himself, all I need is belief in myself.”
Joshua also addressed his absence from the ring, which will extend to 15 months by the time he fights Paul. “I wanted to take 12 months out of the game, and I’ve done that, so it was time to get back to work,” said the Olympic gold medalist.
“It’s been a whirlwind, I’ve been trying to create businesses on the side. [But] I’ve decided to shut down a lot of business, realigned my vision board, consolidated a lot of things, trimmed down my team. I said I needed 12 months to do that.”
Joshua also said he had been in talks to box Cassius Chaney, a member of Paul’s training team, in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
“Not even announce it but just turn up, ring walk, ‘what’s he doing, no announcement?!’” Joshua explained, saying he wanted to take that fight as well as boxing Paul next month.
“I already whooped that ass,” Paul jibed. “Sorry, Cassius.”
Paul, who predicted he will win via a “fourth- or fifth-round knockout”, also said: “[Joshua] is one of the best heavyweights ever, but I believe fighting a smaller man is sometimes difficult because of the speed difference, the head being off the centre.
“I just have to avoid that one shot for eight rounds, and I believe I can do that. So, when I’m bouncing around the ring, jabbing, weaving and doing all these things… I know I can pick him apart and score points.”
