The sight of Anthony Joshua running on a treadmill being cheered on by Oleksandr Usyk was a heart-warming one.
Four months after the tragic car crash which claimed lives of Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele, two of Joshua’s closest friends and team members, the British heavyweight was back, getting a feel for the gym again as he makes his return to full fitness.
Joshua is expected to be cleared to return to full training in the next two weeks and it’s thanks, in part, to spending time with Usyk at his base in Spain.
The camp, which ESPN visited last year ahead of Usyk’s undisputed heayweight bout against Daniel Dubois, is nestled in the quiet town of Gandia, just outside Valencia. It’s the perfect spot to prepare away from cameras and distractions.
When promoter Eddie Hearn visited the camp to check in on Joshua, he was impressed.
“AJ was all out on his heart rate and Usyk was going: ‘Come on champ, push, push, push.’ I’m watching thinking: ‘This is unbelievable what I’m seeing,'” Heard told reporters this week.
“You’ve got the pound-for-pound No.1. You got the guy who he beat twice, who’s probably the biggest star in the sport. It’s incredible.”
Joshua linked up with Usyk’s team prior to his fight against Jake Paul last year, helping him get back in the ring for the first time in a year following his September 2024 defeat to Dubois.
The same crew is now helping him come back from something different altogether and the support is invaluable for Joshua.
Asked by ESPN what the relationship gives Joshua, Hearn said: “Just an unbelievable lift. When I was there … He’s doing these circuits, these sprints, tempo sprints, this kind of stuff.
“He would do his sprints, then he’d go over and do this kettlebell [exercise] then he’d do a [sled push] with this f—— big fitness trainer standing on the sledge.
“I think at the moment he’s very happy.”
Usyk is happy having Joshua, too. The Ukrainian told Ring Magazine this week his two sons, Mikhail and Kirill, love playing with the Brit.
“They will always say to me: ‘Hey papa, we want to play with AJ,'” Usyk said. “But it’s up to me to say ‘no, AJ, go and rest.’
“But Kirill will ask AJ to play basketball and he will say, ‘Of course.’ I’ll say, ‘Hey Kirill!’ but AJ will tell me not to worry, we can go and play.”
While he says both Tyson Fury and Joshua are his friends, Usyk is backing his new stablemate to win should the British heavyweights finally meet in the ring.
“I believe. I look how Anthony is training. He’s a machine,” Usyk said. “Now I think Anthony needs help. People who support AJ, we must say: ‘Yeah, we do believe!'”
