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Boxing

06th Apr 2016

WATCH: Anthony Joshua in beast mode training for his world title fight

This is the hardcore training Joshua has done to win the world title...

Ben Kenyon

Anthony Joshua is just days away the fight of his life.

The 26-year-old takes on American fighter Charles Martin for the world heavyweight title in what could be a historic night for British boxing.

But Joshua has spilled blood, sweat and tears in the gym to prepare himself for this career-defining fight at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night.

The Olympic gold medallist is in peak physical condition for his shot at the heavyweight title.

BBC Three has given us a taste of the training and gym work that has got him in this incredible shape – and we’re not going to lie, it looks pretty nasty.

We hear from family how Joshua is obsessed with training – and he hits sessions three times a day during the week, including 6am road work running, then more cardio, sparring and strength training.

His fight-specific strength and conditioning work is really interesting. The workouts he does in the gym are all geared up to translate directly to the boxing ring.

Anthony Joshua

The short film shows us how Joshua trains his power, core strength, speed and aerobic capacity using some inventive training methods.

The Watford fighter is known for his punching power particularly – with his 15 pro wins all coming by way of knock-out.

It’s interesting to see him throwing kettlebells to improve his maximal power in a punching-style movement pattern – and equally drilling the same movement with a landmine shoulder press (with a resistance band to make his muscles even harder).

It’s no wonder he keeps sparking them out.

A key focus of Joshua’s training is movements that enhance his core and work his glutes, hamstrings and quads which give him that solid foundation as a boxer and enable him to move fast, powerful and with explosiveness throughout a fight.

Equally his sparring is important and he will do more fight simulation with 12 rounds of sparring, bringing in fresh guys ‘who want to knock his head off’ every four rounds to keep the pressure on him.

The British and Commonwealth champion leaves everything on the gym floor. After this fight camp, we cannot wait to see Joshua unleashed on Martin on April 9.

Video via BBC Three