Anthony Joshua is looking to take a leaf out of Tyson Fury’s book as he keeps himself sharp for his proposed bout with Deontay Wilder. The Watford powerhouse has acquired the services of Fury’s former coach Ben Davison to keep him ticking over before he returns to his full camp in America with head coach Derrick James.
Davison helped Fury get back in shape after three years out of the ring and cornered him for his comeback fights against Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta as well as his first bout with Wilder, which ended in a draw. Fury and Davison amicably parted company after the fight and remain good friends to this day.
Last year, Fury even mentioned that he would like to bring Davison back into camp to work alongside his successor SugarHill Steward. However, it is Fury’s rival AJ that will benefit from Davison’s input ahead of his next fight.
Joshua’s camp manager, David “KD” Ghansa, has revealed that the pair have linked up while the former unified heavyweight champion looks to keep his fitness levels up in anticipation of his blockbuster showdown with Wilder.
“Anthony Joshua wants to be very active. He’s currently ticking over, he’s down at the Ben Davison Performance Centre at the moment,” he told Boxing King Media. “He’s ticking over with Ben, Jamie TKV, we had him in our camps in Dallas a couple times.
“So he’s still active. When he’s got a date, you’ll see him back out in Dallas with Derrick James continuing the work.” Joshua’s team will be hoping that when he returns to Dallas it will be to prepare for the Wilder bout which is proving to be difficult to get over the line.
The contest was initially touted for December, then January, but it looks more likely that it will take place in either February or March now due to a shift in the Saudi Arabian boxing landscape. According to multiple reports, the lion’s share of the Kingdom’s funding has been re-directed to Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority rather than Prince Khalid’s Skills Challenge – who had initially made offers to promote the event.
The General Entertainment Authority are staging both of Fury’s next two fights against former UFC title holder Francis Ngannou and WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk – and appear to be the promotional outfit with the money to get Joshua vs Wilder over the line.