As has been the case since day dot of Anthony Joshua’s professional boxing career, questions are being asked about what comes next. Who will he fight, when will he fight and, since he left Robert McCracken after the first loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021, who will train him?

Joshua, 36, is plotting his latest comeback after more than a year out of the ring following a fifth-round loss to Daniel Dubois last September. There is speculation that he’ll return before the end of 2025, with his promoter Eddie Hearn confirming that a slot on a December undercard in Saudi Arabia is a possibility. In the last few days, Joshua himself has said he’d be willing to take on oft-rumored opponent Jake Paul following the collapse of Paul’s November date with Gervonta Davis.

After departing from McCracken and a partnership that spawned 24 wins from 26 fights, Joshua spent time under the guidance of Robert Garcia, then Derrick James, before joining forces with Davison in 2023. Victories over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou followed until the loss to Dubois left plenty contemplating if Davison would be the next coach for the chop.

Dominic Ingle, who in the past advised Joshua to ditch the “back slappers” and stick with one coach to get back to basics, this week told Sky Sports that another change of personnel might not prove the wisest idea – particularly if that means training in Spain under Lapin.

“[Joshua] doesn’t box like Usyk,” Ingle said, “Can they train AJ to box like Usyk? You’ve got to pick out the best in what AJ does and pick out the worst in what he does – and improve the worst in him.”

For Ingle, Joshua was at his best under McCracken, the revered British trainer who guided the heavyweight to Olympic gold in 2012 and then three sanctioning body titles in the paid ranks.

“I say it time and time again, the best trainer he had was Robert McCracken. It might not be what people want to hear but he had him from the [different] stages of the amateurs. He had him when he was a young mind, brought him through and guided him. He had a good view of what the competition was. He knew where to put him, when to take fights and not to take fights. He’d invested a lot of time in him.

“Now when he moves on, to Ben Davison or whatever, you’re going to be in for a big payday as a trainer but it’s a lot of responsibility to take on. Ben Davison is a good trainer, he’s trained AJ for so many fights, brought him back and he’ll have got paid handsomely – and everyone wants to train AJ because it’s a good payday.

“But sometimes you have to think to yourself, ‘am I capable of training that fighter?’ And sometimes you just have to accept it’s not going to work.”