Persistent rumors of Anthony Joshua planning to join Oleksandr Usyk’s team have crept up since The Ring reported the news but with their article also detailing Joshua hadn’t left the fold of British coach Ben Davison, it is entirely unclear what the former unified fighter’s exact plans are.
According to The Ring, Joshua recently visited the training camp of current undisputed heavyweight (200+ lbs) champion Usyk (24-0, 15 KO’s) in Valencia, Spain, and is considering a move to train under Usyk’s coaching team. However, neither Joshua, promoter Eddie Hearn or Davison have mentioned that Joshua has left from under Davison’s tutelage or indicated what the fighter is up to.
The assumption appears purely based on the fact of Joshua’s recent visit and prior actions he took to change coaches, having had at least five coaches over the past five years. The Ring’s report also signified that a move to join Usyk’s team would not necessarily indicate Joshua and Davison would split.
Joshua, 36, has been inactive for over a year since his September 2024 defeat to Daniel Dubois and has by now been removed from most of the ranking boards due to his absence from the ring.
Despite the lack of confirmation of another coaching change, Davison does currently have his hands full when it comes to training fighters. In the heavyweight division, the British trainer is currently training two heavyweights in the heavily-lauded future great Moses Itauma (13-0, 11 KO’s) and recently-crowned WBO interim heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KO’s).
With both Itauma and Wardley being several years younger than Anthony Joshua and appearing to have potential to compete at the elite level for some time to come, a coaching change would not be a blow to either Joshua or Davison due to the former’s inactivity.
Davison presided over Joshua’s wins against Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin (27-3, 15 KO’s) and Cameroonian MMA fighter Francis Ngannou in 2023 and 2024 respectively and had previously trained Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO’s) upon his return to boxing in 2018.
