Anthony Joshua is expected to finalise details of his camp ‘this week’, as he prepares for a fight with Francis Ngannou in March.
Joshua fought and won three times in 2023, beating Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius under the guidance of Derrick James, before producing his best performance of the year with Ben Davison in his corner, when he beat Otto Wallin in December.
It was announced last week that “AJ” will return to Riyadh, where he stopped Wallin in five rounds, for a fight with ex-UFC champion Ngannou on 8 March, but it is unclear whether Davison or James will train the Briton for the bout.
Speaking on The MMA Hour on Monday (8 January), Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: “He’s flown back to England, so he’s gonna make a decision pretty soon. There’s, what, eight weeks [from] Saturday until the fight?
“He’ll talk to his team and see where’s best to train. Obviously he had a great camp with Ben, and that decision was made really because of the lack of time [to prepare for] Otto Wallin.
“I think you might see him go out to Saudi a little earlier for this fight. Obviously just three weeks before, you’ve got [Oleksandr] Usyk against [Tyson] Fury out there. So, that’s our ultimate aim: to fight the winner of that fight.
“I haven’t talked to him too much about the details of his camp, but I guess he’ll be putting it together this week.”
Davison previously trained Fury during the WBC heavyweight champion’s comeback to boxing in 2018, and the 27-year-old even oversaw Fury’s win over Wallin in 2019.
Fury’s bout with Usyk is also set to take place in Riyadh, on 17 February, as the heavyweight champions clash to crown the first undisputed title holder in the division since 2004.
Francis Ngannou mocks Tyson Fury after knocking down the boxer in October— (AFP via Getty Images)
Joshua, 34, is a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, who lost his belts to Usyk in 2021 and failed to regain them in a 2022 rematch. Joshua lost both fights on points.
Ngannou, 37, held the UFC heavyweight title from 2021 until January 2023, when he vacated the belt while leaving the promotion. The Cameroonian then signed with the Professional Fighters League – a rival company to the UFC – which has allowed the mixed martial artist to box before making his promotional debut.
In his pro boxing debut in October, Ngannou dropped Fury before losing a controversial decision. Fury’s WBC title was not on the line in that contest.
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