Anthony Joshuas Oleksandr Usyk revelation ahead | Boxing News

Anthony Joshua has revealed that he has been working with Oleksandr Usyk and his crew in the build-up to his December 19 showdown with Jake Paul. The two-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world is set to face the influencer-turned-challenger in Miami, Florida, in the build-up to Christmas, with the 2 males talking at a press convention to promote the bout on Friday night.

During which, Joshua was requested by host, Ariel Helwani, whether or not coach Ben Davison might be in his nook for the eight-round encounter. In response to which, AJ revealed that he had loved a change of surroundings alongside one of the world’s greatest-ever boxers in undefeated Ukrainian, Usyk. He replied: “So no, I won’t be trained by Ben Davison.

“I said that London’s a bit distracting for me, so I used to be invited to prepare by Team Usyk. So I’ve been in Spain, we have been doing some good training out in Spain. He is one of the best in the world, and it is not all down to him, it is also down to his crew that encompass him.

“So I linked up with them, and getting an insight into how someone has achieved so much has been phenomenal, man. It’s been a great experience and it’s very challenging.”

When requested by Helwani how long he has been with Team Usyk, Joshua added: “A couple of months now,” before he was probed on whether or not he has had the honour of sparring with Usyk himself. He then said: “I don’t spar with Usyk. He’s training somewhere else at the minute. He’s been in camp, but he’s in and out of camp. So right now he’s training somewhere else.”

When requested what he makes of studying that Joshua has been training with two-time undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion, Usyk, Paul replied: “It’s great. Obviously, he’s training with the best in the world; he is one of the best heavyweights in the world, I expect nothing less, great.

“And I need the best model of Anthony Joshua on December 19, and it is going to be the best model of Jake Paul that you’ve got seen – and we’ll see who’s better.”

With a record of 24-0 and having held undisputed glory at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, Usyk will go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest-ever boxers to walk the Earth. The 38-year-old has shared the ring with Joshua twice throughout the course of his career, beating him via unanimous decision in September 2021, before clinching a split-decision win over him the following August.

Joshua heads into his fight against Paul with a record of 28-4 at present, on the back of a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last September for the IBF heavyweight title. Paul, 28, meanwhile, heads into the fray with a record of 12-1, clinching a unanimous determination win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June. His only profession loss got here at the palms of Tommy Fury in February 2023, and combat followers might be keen to see how he fares against one of the best Britons to step foot in the ring.