Anthony Joshua has been training with Tyson Fury‘s former coach in recent times, Eddie Hearn has revealed.
Hearn, AJ’s promoter, spilled the beans on how top trainer Ben Davison has crossed camps between the British heavyweights.
Davison lived with Fury for 14 months as he fought mental demons, helped him lose 100 pounds and return to the ring in 2018, and drilled him to within a couple of scorecards of the WBC title against Deontay Wilder.
Fury dropped Davison after five fights ahead of his rematch with Deontay Wilder, where he finally won the belt in 2020, and years later Davison is working with one of his rivals.
Hearn told Boxing Social: ‘Ben is a small part of the team. They get on very well.
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Ben Davison (right), Tyson Fury’s former trainer, has been working to help Anthony Joshua
Joshua is preparing for a fight in December – but it is not yet known who he will face in the ring
Eddie Hearn said that Davison has been ‘working behind the scenes tactically with AJ’
Davison worked with Fury for five fights, helping him return to the ring after a tricky period
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‘Whilst he is in the UK he will train with Ben and I think he’s very happy to do that. Derrick James at the moment remains the coach, happy with him. Couple of performances and building on that, no change in that respect.
‘Ben has been working behind the scenes tactically with AJ, he’s a fantastic coach and I think AJ feels comfortable whilst he’s in the UK working with him.
‘Ben is a fantastic coach, and I think that has the kind of mind that AJ would tick with.
‘AJ is the kind of guy who doesn’t like to be out of camp for too long, and there is a chance he fights in December. So if that’s the case, he wanted these couple of weeks just to sharpen his tools before he heads into camp in Dallas with Derrick [James].’
While Joshua usually works with Derrick James, he still has time to learn off Davison.
It is not yet confirmed who he will fight next.
Boxing fans have been craving the chance to see him in action against Fury or Wilder, while a rematch against Dillian Whyte collapsed in fight week earlier this year.
Joshua is still without an opponent for his protracted December fight after being linked to facing Filip Hrgovic, Otto Wallin or Agit Kabayel.
Would he fight Fury one day? ‘It’s a challenge – but one I’ll be up for,’ he recently told Louis Theroux.
Hearn has also revealed how there has been contact with Francis Ngannou’s camp after he impressed against Fury in Riyadh.
Derrick James is Joshua’s principal trainer and will oversee his progress at a camp in Dallas
Davison has gained experience working with boxing’s brightest and most brutal competitors
Speaking on Mail Sport’s boxing podcast The Hook, Charlotte Daly said she felt that the heavyweight division has become ’embarrassing’ this year with a lack of blockbuster fights.
She said: ‘I think it’s really disappointing because this year has not been exciting for the heavyweight division as it has for the lighter weight classes.
‘I think the division gets in its own way because of contractual disputes and then even failed drugs tests now are coming into play as another factor.
‘I think years ago, the heavyweight division was kind of the bread and butter of boxing and now it’s become somewhat embarrassing. I think that fight with Ngannou, whether you liked it or not, has caused a lot of the backlog.
‘Boxers are being greedy because they want the biggest purse and the biggest money and that’s all they’re focused on.’
