Anthony Joshua and Joe Joyce will link up as sparring partners to prime each other for their high-stakes heavyweight clashes.
Joshua is expected to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on December 12, and Joyce will meet his fellow unbeaten British contender Daniel Dubois.
Representatives of Joshua and Joyce confirmed to Sky Sports that they would share a ring again to aid each other preparations.
They have shared hundreds of rounds of sparring across many years as they came through Team GB’s amateur programme, although Joyce has more recently sparred with Tyson Fury in the US.
“There’ve been many bruising sessions over the years,” promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports about Joshua and Joyce’s history.
“Joe has been around for many years on the amateur scene. When AJ was coming through, Joe was one of the experienced guys and some of their spars have been fantastic.
“Obviously AJ went to another level, but Joe is still an outstanding heavyweight.”
Joshua won the super-heavyweight gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. Joyce represented Team GB four years later in Rio and took home silver after controversially losing the final to France’s Tony Yoka.
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