Famous American coach, former world featherweight champion Robert Garcia gave
interview for an American news portal.
In a conversation, the newly minted coach of the former unified champion from Britain Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) spoke about his cooperation with AJ, expressed his opinion about his offender, the current IBF / WBO / WBA champion from Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk (19- 0, 13 KOs), and also explained why Joshua’s team chose him as a mentor.
“I understand that Joshua chose you.
“As of now, this is what I have planned. I have a trip to London planned. I have to meet them at the training camp. I was already with them for two weeks in December and 2 months ago I also spent 2 weeks with them. He seems to enjoy my work. I think the most important thing for him is the plan for the fight. I have already spoken to him and his team, and I think my plan for the fight, I will not say that this is the only correct plan, but it is a plan with which Usyk can be beaten. Because Usyk is very smart, very technical, very fast, with good head movement.
The plan for the fight…I feel like Anthony Joshua is so big, so tall, he has such an advantage in reach and height that he has to use that to win the fight. They liked it. They have invited me to London twice already. Now the fight is already finalized, and I’m leaving to complete the training camp with them.
“It’s priceless”. Joshua confirms Garcia’s arrival in the camp for a rematch with Usyk
– How excited are you?
– This is a big challenge for me, because I have a heavyweight for the first time fighting for the world title. It’s kind of like a dream come true. I had champions in almost every weight class. All I’m missing is a cruiserweight, light heavyweight and super middleweight plus heavyweight title.
Having a world heavyweight champion is the highest bar. I’m looking forward to. I always thought heavyweight was not the best idea for me. They differ. Their training methods are much different from lightweights. In the two weeks that I spent with him in December and two weeks 2 months ago, I realized that he, as a fighter, goes to the test on his own. He wants these challenges and he trains hard. He works as hard as any lightweight. This is the difference. I’ve worked with a few heavyweights before and they were too heavy, they didn’t work as hard, they were a little lazy. That’s why I had the idea of not working with the heavyweights anymore, but the opportunity came up and I love the challenge, especially after a loss. This is a great challenge for me. I know it won’t be easy, but I will do whatever it takes to make Anthony a champion again.
They already had Angel Fernandez. We got along very well. He is from Spain. We both speak Spanish. We talked a lot, worked on one plan for a fight. It’s not like I came up with one idea and Angel had another.
You are both on the same wavelength.
– Exactly. This helped a lot. They mentioned my 14 champions, how underdogs became champions. They also know that I have lost fights. I’m only human. You can’t win every title fight. But they were satisfied with what I had already done.
Usyk-Joshua revenge will take place on a unique arena
“They believe in your skills, in your teaching methods.
– Exactly. They asked me a lot of questions. Not only about Anthony, but about all the other fighters. I answered them from the bottom of my heart. I did not hang noodles on their ears. After all, many coaches know how to screw up to make them believe that they are the best. There are many of those.
– You saw them.
– Everywhere. A lot of them. But for the time I spent with them, for questions, for honesty, they chose me.
– Without much disclosure of details, Oleksandr Usyk – how will you crack this code?
“They also liked the fact that Usyk trained at my gym in Oxnard. They know that I have seen him train. I never coached Usyk, but I was there. They trained in my gym. Maybe that’s another thing that helped.
Man, he looks intimidating. He looks like a serial killer. But once you get to know him, he’s a great person, darling, he’s a kid. He plays everywhere, he jokes, he’s a great person.
Egis Klimas is his manager. I respect Klimas, but this is business. I treat him like a friend, but now I’ve been hired to be against him. I will do whatever it takes to beat Usyk.