ANTHONY JOSHUA ENDURES ‘TORTURE’ TRAINING AHEAD OF FURY FIGHT

Anthony Joshua has turned to an unusual stretching machine as he intensifies preparations for his expected heavyweight showdown with fellow British boxer Tyson Fury.

The two-time heavyweight world champion shared a video of himself undergoing the unusual workout at his training gym in Dubai.

In the video, Joshua was strapped to a modern Pravilo machine, which stretched his arms and legs into a starfish-like position before rotating his body.

The demanding exercise has been described as “torture” training by British media outlets, including the Daily Mail and The Sun, because of the painful-looking positions Joshua was placed in during the workout.

Joshua captioned the Instagram video, “When the instructor says, relax and breathe.”

The Pravilo is a stretching and conditioning machine associated with Slavic and Russian training traditions and is designed to work on flexibility and physical conditioning.

The 36-year-old’s latest workout comes as he steps up preparations for a proposed fight against Fury.

The bout is expected to take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in December, following reports that plans for the fight to be held in New York had been changed.

Joshua has previously fought twice in Cardiff, defeating Carlos Takam in 2017 and Joseph Parker in 2018.

The proposed fight with Fury would bring together two of Britain’s most prominent heavyweight boxers for the first time.

Both fighters have held world heavyweight titles and have been linked with a meeting for several years.