Anthony Joshua has stepped up his preparations for a summer comeback by returning to full training camp, linking up with the team of former unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk as he closes in on his first fight since the horror car crash in Nigeria in December.
The British-Nigerian boxer last fought on December 19 when he stopped Jake Paul in six rounds in Miami, but his career was thrown into uncertainty just days later when he was involved in a fatal road crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that claimed the lives of his friends personal trainer, Kevin Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami.
Joshua survived the accident but has since been in physical recovery while also mourning the loss of his two close friends.
Having begun his return to light training at Finchley Amateur Boxing Club, his first gym, Joshua has now rejoined trainer Iegor Golub, who is a longstanding member of Usyk’s coaching setup and who first worked with Joshua during his sixth-round stoppage of Paul. Golub began working with Joshua last year after the 36-year-old parted ways with Ben Davison following his defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had signalled that Joshua was closing in on a return to full camp, expressing confidence that the former champion was mentally and physically ready to throw himself back into the structured environment of professional boxing preparation.
“We are very close to returning to training camp, and I feel like AJ is physically and perhaps mentally ready to throw himself back into that environment.
“It is exciting. For everything that he has been through and all the pain, I do not think that will leave. But he has a career and a job to do, which he wants to continue doing. And I am excited to see him back,” Hearn said.
Joshua had originally been scheduled to fight in Saudi Arabia in March before the crash disrupted those plans. Hearn now expects a comeback fight in July, with a blockbuster showdown against Tyson Fury, which respected Telegraph boxing correspondent Gareth A Davies recently revealed has been signed, pencilled in for later in the year.
Fury himself returns to action on April 11 against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham’s stadium.
Credit: punchng.com
