Usyk Backing Joshua to Beat 'Greedy Belly' Fury as Old Rivals Turn Training Partners

There are few partnerships in sport as surprising as the one quietly forming inside a training camp somewhere far from the British public gaze. Anthony Joshua, a man twice beaten and twice humbled by Oleksandr Usyk, has embedded himself inside the Ukrainian champion's setup and by all accounts has no intention of leaving. The two former opponents have built what Usyk himself describes as a genuine friendship, and the unified heavyweight champion is now lending his considerable expertise to help Joshua land the defining victory of his career: beating Tyson Fury.

That Usyk is even involved speaks to the peculiar nature of elite boxing. Rivals at the top of the heavyweight division for years, the two men have apparently found a mutual respect that transcends competition. Joshua initially travelled to Usyk's camp in August or September last year, telling his team he would stay for a fortnight. He is still there, which says something significant about what he is getting from the experience.

The arrangement carries genuine strategic logic too. Usyk has beaten Fury twice already, studying the Gypsy King's footwork, his pressure game, his psychological tricks and his ability to absorb punishment before turning a fight. There is no better living source of knowledge on how to dismantle Tyson Fury than the pound-for-pound number one who has done it on two separate occasions. Crucially, Usyk's wins over Fury were not fortune; they were built on a consistent tactical blueprint of cutting off the ring, disrupting Fury's rhythm early, and refusing to be drawn into holding patterns that allow Fury to reset. Joshua absorbing those specifics in daily training, rather than from video analysis alone, is a qualitatively different kind of preparation. For Joshua, the access is almost unprecedented in professional boxing terms.

What Usyk's Involvement Actually Means for Joshua

The relationship between the two men appears to go well beyond the transactional. Usyk described their time together as collaborative and relaxed, a genuine working friendship built during long hours of preparation. "We help each other. We help, we work, we're joking, it's a great time. Earlier we were rivals, opponents, now we're friends," he said. That casual warmth is interesting in itself. Joshua has sometimes appeared isolated in his preparation in the past, but this camp offers something different: proximity to a fighter operating at the absolute peak of the sport.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has been candid about the impact. He described a moment early in Joshua's stay when AJ rang him, clearly doubting whether to continue. "He phoned me after three days, facetimed me from his bed, basically said: 'I'm not sure about this, I think I'm going to come home,'" Hearn revealed. What kept him there, apparently, was a moment on the running machines when Usyk walked over during a high-intensity sprint session and offered simple, direct encouragement. For a fighter rebuilding his confidence after significant setbacks, having the best heavyweight on the planet tell you directly that you can be a champion again carries a weight that no motivational video or team talk can replicate. The fact that the intervention came during a physical session, not a quiet conversation off the side, matters: it signals that Usyk was vouching for what he was seeing in real time.

Hearn confirmed that Usyk could yet be in Joshua's corner on the night if the Fury fight is made. "It is a big shout. I wouldn't be surprised," he said, adding that Usyk's influence is "definitely going to be a help." The prospect of the man who twice outboxed Fury standing in Joshua's corner and offering real-time tactical advice during a fight against the same opponent is almost too good to be true for those who want to see the all-British bout finally happen.

The Fury Fight: Negotiations Advancing as AJ Finds New Purpose

Hearn confirmed that talks for Joshua versus Fury are progressing, describing negotiations as advancing for the bout to take place this year. The commercial weight of that contest is enormous. Two of Britain's most recognisable sporting figures, both former world champions, both carrying unfinished business. It has been talked about for the better part of a decade and for various contractual and operational reasons has never materialised. There is a genuine sense now that 2026 could be different.

What makes the current moment distinct from previous attempts to get this fight made is the change in Joshua himself. Hearn pointed to something deeper than physical preparation, noting that Joshua is fighting for personal reasons that go beyond belts or status. "It is a different type of energy, there is a different type of purpose to Joshua now. He is fighting for more than just belts, he is fighting for a lot of personal things as well going on in his life," the promoter said. That shift in motivation matters. Fighters who have recalibrated their relationship with the sport, who are no longer running purely on external validation, often perform differently. Joshua's two losses to Usyk were, in part, performances in which his physical tools were present but his decision-making under pressure was not; if the internal recalibration Hearn describes is genuine, that gap may close. Whether that translates against Fury remains to be seen, but the signs from camp are encouraging.

Usyk's assessment was blunt and unambiguous. "I think AJ will do it, beat my friend 'Greedy Belly,'" he said, deploying the nickname he has used for Fury before. The brevity of that prediction is telling. Usyk is not given to hollow cheerleading and his confidence in Joshua's ability to get the job done reflects something he is witnessing in training sessions every day. Coming from a man who knows precisely what it takes to beat Tyson Fury, that endorsement carries far more weight than any promotional soundbite.

Usyk's Own Business: Verhoeven and What Comes After

While Joshua plots a course towards Fury, Usyk has his own immediate priority. On 23 May, under the Egyptian sky beside the pyramids at Giza, the unified heavyweight champion defends his WBC title against Rico Verhoeven, the dominant Dutch kickboxer who is making his first serious venture into professional boxing at the highest level. It is an unusual contest by any measure, pitting the technical sophistication of the finest heavyweight boxer alive against a striker whose achievements in another discipline are extraordinary.

Verhoeven's credentials in kickboxing are beyond question, but Usyk was relaxed in his assessment of the challenge. "For me it's a regular fight. I am master boxer," he stated. There is no arrogance in that claim, just an honest appraisal of the gulf in boxing-specific experience between the two men. Verhoeven will bring athleticism, power, and the mental fortitude of a multiple world champion in his own sport, but converting that into effective heavyweight boxing against the most technically gifted practitioner in the division is an entirely different proposition. The crossover boxing record for elite combat sport athletes is, to put it mildly, not encouraging at world heavyweight level.

Beyond Verhoeven, Usyk's dance card is already filling up in conversation. A potential fight with the winner of the Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois bout would allow Usyk to reunify all four major heavyweight titles, something he has achieved before and clearly values. A third fight with Fury also looms as a possibility further down the road. But Usyk was firm about limiting his focus. "Now I have focus only on Rico then we speak about future plans," he said. "But now it's only May 23, Egypt. Discipline and focus, only this fight."

A Dynamic Nobody Saw Coming

The story of Joshua inside Usyk's camp is one of the more compelling subplots in heavyweight boxing right now, and its significance extends beyond the tactical. Boxing has a history of fighters helping former opponents, but this arrangement is unusual because of the directness of the benefit. Usyk is not merely offering informal advice; according to Hearn, his whole setup has opened its doors to Joshua, providing world-class sparring, coaching infrastructure, and the daily psychological influence of operating alongside the best.

For Joshua specifically, it represents a recognition that his previous approach needed fundamental change. Fighters at his level rarely admit that, let alone act on it. The fact that he initially wanted to leave after three days and was persuaded to stay, not by a pep talk from his management but by the environment itself and by Usyk's direct words of encouragement during a training run, suggests something genuine has shifted. Whether that shift is durable under the pressure of a Fury fight night is the question that only boxing can answer.

Verdict: An Unlikely Alliance with Real Consequences

If the Fury fight happens, and Hearn's tone suggests it is more likely than not to be made this year, Joshua will enter it with a preparation unlike anything he has undertaken before. Training alongside the man who beat him twice, being coached by his former conqueror, possibly having Usyk in his corner during rounds: that is a genuinely novel scenario for a fighter who has often appeared to be searching for the right environment rather than the right gameplan.

Usyk's belief in Joshua is significant precisely because it is informed belief. He is not predicting an AJ win to generate headlines or to sell a future fight. He sees Joshua every day in camp, understands what Fury requires physically and tactically, and has still chosen to say publicly that Joshua will get it done. That is worth something real.

The bigger picture is that the heavyweight division in 2026 is genuinely alive with possibility. Usyk versus Verhoeven at the pyramids in May, then potentially Joshua versus Fury later in the year with Usyk's fingerprints all over the preparation, followed by whatever Usyk himself chooses to pursue next: it is a compelling sequence. The friendship between Joshua and Usyk, forged out of two bruising defeats, may turn out to be one of the most consequential relationships in boxing this year.

Sources: Interview quotes and training camp details from an exclusive Sky Sports interview with Oleksandr Usyk and Eddie Hearn, published 15 April 2026.