Anthony Joshua is leaving nothing to chance ahead of his comeback bout against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami next month.
The 36-year-old, who has not fought since his devasting knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September last year, has linked up with the team behind reigning world champion Oleksandr Usyk to prepare for the eight-round contest on December 19.
At a press conference in the US to launch the fight, Joshua revealed the split from his regular trainer Ben Davison, who last week told Boxing News Online that the contest was “not good for boxing”.
Joshua said: “I was invited to train with Team Usyk.
“He’s one of the best in the world, and it’s not all down to him. It’s also down to the team that’s around him, so I’ve linked up with them and got a great insight into someone who has achieved so much.
“It’s been a great experience and it’s very challenging.”
Joshua, who was twice outpointed by Usyk in 2021 and 2022, shrugged off criticism of the contest, for which he is contractually obliged not to weigh in at more than 245lbs – still likely to be enough to see him out-weigh his opponent by over two stones.
“I don’t address people that are against me,” added Joshua. “People say, ‘what do you feel about negative comments?’ Why am I worried about negative comments? I just focus on the people who believe in me and support me. I have nothing to say to those people.
“You’ve got to give credit to Jake and his team, they reached out to me and it was a great opportunity for me to fight. I wanted to take 12 months out of the game, I did that and then it was time to get back to work.
“I was planning on fighting anyway and I thought, ‘why not?’ It’s great, it’s massive, it’s colossal, it’s bringing big news. We’re bringing marketability together with ability, those two worlds collide.”
Paul’s 13-fight career consists mainly of former UFC stars or faded boxing greats. His only previous heavyweight foray was a points win over a 58-year-old Mike Tyson 12 months ago, while in his last fight in June he outpointed the 39-year-old former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez.
In a largely respectful press conference, Paul paid tribute to Joshua’s accomplishments but reiterated his conviction that he is capable of pulling off an unlikely upset, and insisted he will go to extreme lengths to do so.
“He (Joshua) is one of the best heavyweights ever but I believe that fighting a small man is often harder as a heavyweight, because of the speed difference and because of the foot-speed and the angles,” said Paul.
“All that power is great and he’s knocked people out, I just have to avoid that one shot for eight rounds and I believe that I can do that.
“Self-belief is the most powerful thing in the world. I know this is much more challenging but I know what I’m capable of. This is going to be fun.
“I want him to cut me up, I want him to break my face, but guess what? He’s going to have to kill me to stop me, and I’m seriously ready to die.”