{"id":616539,"date":"2026-06-02T06:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616539\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:03:12","slug":"anthony-joshua-reveals-how-training-with-oleksandr-usyk-has-improved-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616539\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua Reveals How Training With Oleksandr Usyk Has Improved Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua<\/a> has revealed the two ways in which training alongside his former opponent, Oleksandr Usyk<\/a>, has changed his approach to boxing<\/a>. AJ was speaking ahead of his comeback to the sport, which is set to include a much-anticipated clash with Tyson Fury<\/a> later this year.<\/p>\n

Before he can fully focus on that bout, though, he must first safely negotiate his return to the ring on the 25th of July against unheralded contender, Kristian Prenga, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Though Usyk labored to a controversial 11th round knockout win in a crossover fight against the boxing novice, Rico Verhoeven, on the 23rd of May at the Pyramids of Giza, he remains one of the most decorated and established pound-for-pound fighters in the entire sport.<\/p>\n

Usyk is admired for his prior dominance at cruiserweight, and for the way in which he lapped the competition at heavyweight through wins over Joshua himself, as well as Daniel Dubois<\/a> and Fury.<\/p>\n

Since dropping those losses to Usyk and, more recently, Dubois, the former two-time heavyweight king, AJ, has joined Usyk’s team and camp to learn from the Ukrainian maestro.<\/p>\n

At a press event in London, Joshua explained what he’s learned from his time with the champ.<\/p>\n


\n \"Usyk<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tExclusive: Rico Verhoeven Gives Honest Verdict on Oleksandr Usyk’s Punching Power
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The kickboxing legend held nothing back after sharing the ring with Usyk for 11 rounds…<\/p>\n

Joshua Now Trains With Usyk Full-Time<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

The new partnership began ahead of Joshua’s crossover bout with the creator-turned-fight figure, Jake Paul<\/a>. With London becoming too distracting for Joshua’s increasing celebrity status, he left for Valencia to join Usyk’s team on a 10-day basis. But, according to AJ’s career-long promoter, Eddie Hearn, “he just never came back.”<\/p>\n

Joshua maintained the relationship through 2026. They posted memes of one another to the Rocky theme, and Usyk’s sports director, Sergey Lapin, said the collaboration “isn’t about one opponent [but, rather] AJ’s development.”<\/p>\n

There was even a suggestion Usyk could corner Joshua for a championship bout or, perhaps, the Tyson Fury mega-fight. But, though, it remains to be seen whether Usyk will be present for the Prenga fight, the effect he has had on Joshua has never been clearer.<\/p>\n

What Anthony Joshua Has Learned From Oleksandr Usyk<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

On the two ways Usyk changed his perspective on boxing as he prepares to face Prenga and later Fury, Joshua said: “Fitness \u2014 and not just fitness for running, but boxing fitness. And IQ. When I say that, I mean defence. I understand it. I can really read punches again.”<\/p>\n

The Brit, who has 26 knockouts from 29 wins, with only four defeats, added: “[I am] fully locked in. I can see it again. The punches. I can read the opponent really well, and [I’m] not focused on other stuff. I’m going to respect the sport of boxing.<\/p>\n

“There’s a certain level of energy it takes to be a championship fighter, and you can’t be anywhere underneath that if you want to be good,” Joshua said. “And when you align your energy to that, everything becomes easy. I put my energy fully into boxing.<\/p>\n

“I feel myself improving again,” he finished.<\/p>\n

Watch AJ lift the lid on his experience with Usyk right here:<\/p>\n

While the Joshua vs Prenga fight was announced earlier in the year, the rest of the card is yet to be confirmed. Considering Joshua’s agreement with DAZN, that broadcaster will likely stream the entire show. With Matchroom promoting, other Eddie Hearn fighters will likely join AJ on the bill.<\/p>\n

Should Joshua defat Prenga, the date for his showdown with Fury is expected to be announced straight after.<\/p>\n


\n \"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tOleksandr Usyk Reveals ‘Real Reason’ Why His Fight With Rico Verhoeven Was So Close
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Verhoeven pushed Usyk to the limit in Egypt…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua has revealed the two ways in which training alongside his former opponent, Oleksandr Usyk, has changed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-616539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}