Anthony Joshua described his link-up with trainer Ben Davison as a ‘lightbulb’ moment after his terrific win over Otto Wallin on Saturday night.
The British heavyweight has worked with five trainers in the space of two years but seems to have struck gold with Tyson Fury’s former coach Davison.
Speaking after his fifth-round stoppage of Swedish fighter Wallin in Saudi Arabia, Joshua described how everything just clicked in his latest training camp.
‘He’s a scholar of the game and when we spoke, he saw what I have been trying to achieve in the business and you know when someone understands you and the lightbulb comes on and you just finally get it? That was it,’ he said.
‘He still pushed me towards achieving what I’m achieving. He hasn’t tried to change me.
Anthony Joshua has praised new trainer Ben Davison (left) after his victory over Otto Wallin
Davison formerly trained Tyson Fury and Joshua described it as a ‘like switching on a lightbulb’
Anthony Joshua stopped Otto Wallin after the fifth round of their bout on Saturday night
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‘He is still trying to push me towards what I’m trying to achieve but he’s done it in a way where, because he knows boxing, he knows what I’m trying to do and he knows how to get it out of me.
‘You would have to ask him because he’s quite articulate and he will give away quite a lot. But he switched a lightbulb on in this training camp.’
34-year-old Joshua continued his fightback from those two damaging defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, which saw him lose his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO belts.
He backed up wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius earlier this year with an impressive display against Wallin, who was pulled out the Riyadh contest after the fifth.
But Deontay Wilder’s shock points defeat to Joseph Parker on the same bill has potentially scuppered plans for a showdown with Joshua.
Afterwards, Eddie Hearn confirmed Joshua will now likely take on Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF heavyweight world title after Wilder failed to hold up his end of the bargain.
Joshua looked back to his old self as he delivered a thunderous performance
Reeferee Stevee Gray announced Joshua as the winner after the fight, holding his arm aloft
Joshua had cycled through a number of different coaches in recent years before Davison
‘We signed for Wilder, he lost tonight. Maybe it’s a blessing because AJ wants to become a three-time heavyweight world champion. It’s going to be AJ vs Hrgovic for the world title,’ Hearn said.
Joshua worked with trainer Rob McCracken, the man in charge of Team GB’s boxing team when he won gold at London 2012, between 2016 and 2021.
Their relationship ended after the Usyk loss, with Joshua visibly stunned to be told he’d lost, leading to speculation he wasn’t clearly told he was down on points mid-fight.
‘I’m not blaming anyone by saying that but I didn’t get any impression that I was losing the fight,’ Joshua would later say. ‘I thought we were well in it.’
Robert Garcia replaced McCracken but lasted just one camp – prior to Usyk’s second victory – and then Derrick James came in. Angel Fernandez had also trained Joshua during that time.
But Joshua’s warm words about Davison could signal a more long-term partnership.