FORMER unified heavyweight king Anthony Joshua has heaped praise on his new gym mates at the Ben Davison Performance Centre in Harlow, Essex ahead of his blockbuster showdown with Sweden’s Otto Wallin in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this Saturday December 23.

The British star headlines a historic night of boxing this weekend at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh – live on DAZN PPV –  that features some of the biggest world champions and leading contenders on the planet, including Matchroom stablemates Dmitry Bivol and Jai Opetaia.

Two-time heavyweight world champion Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) is no stranger to fighting in Saudi Arabia, having exacted revenge over Andy Ruiz Jr to regain his heavyweight crowns on an unforgettable night at the Diriyah Arena back in 2019 before pushing Oleksandr Usyk all of the way in a narrow loss at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Arena in 2022. 

It’s a really good environment that gym. I’m happy I was there early enough that I basically had a full camp for this fight

In preparation for his latest main attraction in the Kingdom, Watford’s Joshua has been training under the watchful eye of Davison alongside the likes of Matchroom’s former WBA featherweight world champion Leigh Wood, Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist and rising welterweight star Pat McCormack and super-bantamweight contender Shabaz Masoud – and the 34-year-old says he is happy with his new training environment.

“In terms of camp, I respect all of the fighters,” Joshua told Matchroom Boxing. “They’ve been there before me. To go in there, I’m aware I’ve got to be respectful of their space as well. I’m not in there like the big Charlie like, ‘yeah I’m here now’. Nah, I respect everyone there, I show them love.

“I’m a big supporter of boxing. Everyone wants to do well. Everyone just wants to push themselves. So I’ve gone in there with that energy – ‘come on let’s go, let’s push ourselves, how can we get better?’

“Me and Jeamie TKV (Tshikeva) we do our crunches and our abs together, me and Leigh Wood do circuits together, Shabaz (Masoud), Pat (McCormack), Luke (McCormack) and all of the other boys in there. I respect the coaches as well.

“It’s a really good environment that gym. I’m happy I was there early enough that I basically had a full camp for this fight. Even though it came up at a late stage like seven weeks out, I’m really happy that I was in training camp early on because this opportunity I didn’t want to miss for the world.”

An unprecedented line-up on a single night of boxing, the ‘Day of Reckoning’ sees former WBO world champion Joseph Parker takes on the ‘Bronze Bomber’ and former WBC world title holder, Deontay Wilder, with IBF No.1 contender Filip Hrgovic fighting Mark De Mori in another heavyweight shootout.

London 2012 Olympic champion Joshua is ready to help deliver an early Christmas present for fight fans around the world.

“This is the best fight card in history,” said Joshua. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like this. Most fight cards you know, you put it on but you’re outside, you’re on the phone, you’re eating, you’re cooking and when the main even comes on you rush back to your seat. This one you want to be sat down from start to finish. Make sure you tune in.”

The ‘Day of Reckoning’ comes after the ‘Battle of the Baddest’, which was held on October 28 during the opening of Riyadh Season 2023, in which Tyson Fury defeated Francis Ngannou.