Anthony Joshua says linking up with Tyson Fury’s former trainer Ben Davison was like ‘switching on a lightbulb’ after his dominant victory over Otto Wallin saw return to his best

Anthony Joshua described his meeting with trainer Ben Davison as a “light bulb” moment after his stunning win over Otto Wallin on Saturday night.

The British heavyweight has worked with five trainers over two years but appears to have struck gold with Tyson Fury’s former trainer Davison.

Speaking after his fifth-round knockout of Swedish fighter Wallin in Saudi Arabia, Joshua revealed how things had come together in his latest training camp.

“He’s an expert on the game and when we talked he saw what I’m trying to achieve in the business and you know when someone gets you and the light bulb goes on and you finally get it?” That’s it,” he said.

“He still pushed me to achieve what I want. He didn’t try to change me.

Anthony Joshua praises new coach Ben Davison (left) after his victory over Otto Wallin

Davison previously trained Tyson Fury, with Joshua describing it as “like turning on a light bulb.”

Anthony Joshua stopped Otto Wallin after the fifth round of his fight on Saturday night.

“He’s still trying to push me towards what I’m trying to achieve, but he’s done it in a way that because he knows boxing, he knows what I’m trying to do and he knows how to get it out of me.

“You will have to ask him because he is very eloquent and will tell you a lot. But he turned on the light bulb in this training camp.”

Joshua, 34, has continued to fight since those two devastating losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, which saw him lose the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO belts.

He followed up wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius earlier this year with an impressive performance against Wallin, who bowed out of the competition in Riyadh after finishing fifth.

But Deontay Wilder’s shock loss to Joseph Parker by the same scoreline potentially derailed plans for a fight with Joshua.

Eddie Hearn has since confirmed that Joshua is now likely to fight Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF world heavyweight title after Wilder failed to live up to his end of the deal.

Joshua looked back at his old self and delivered an amazing performance.

Referee Steve Gray declared Joshua the winner after the fight by raising his hand.

Joshua went through several different trainers in recent years before Davison.

“We signed Wilder but he lost tonight. Perhaps this is a blessing because AJ wants to become a three-time world heavyweight champion. It will be AJ vs Hrgovic for the world title,” Hearn said.

Joshua worked with coach Rob McCracken, the man who led Team GB’s boxing team when he won gold in London 2012, between 2016 and 2021.

Their relationship ended following Usyk’s defeat, with Joshua visibly stunned to be told he had lost, leading to speculation that he had not been clearly told he had lost points mid-fight.

“I’m not blaming anyone by saying this, but I didn’t feel like I was losing the fight,” Joshua would later say. “I thought we handled it well.”

Robert Garcia replaced McCracken, but lasted only one training camp – until Usyk’s second victory – and then Derrick James took over. Angel Fernandez also trained Joshua during this time.

But Joshua’s kind words about Davison could signal a longer-term partnership.