Shane McGuigan, 34, is Britain’s top coach. Despite the young age for this craft, he helped Carl Frampton conquer two weight categories, and Josh Taylor became the absolute world champion. He has also worked with George Groves and Lawrence Okoli and is the coach of WBA World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Dubois. In 2016 Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named McGuigan Coach of the Year.
The specialist was asked to analyze the situation around the ex-unified British heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) – first he broke up with coach Rob McCracken, but now he decided not to continue working with Robert Garcia and is already actively looking for a new mentor.
Opinion McGuigan on this subject: “I will try to explain with my own example. Any mentor needs time to do everything the way he sees it. Take the same
Edama Azima. You can see for yourself (see here) how it has changed for me in one year of working together. For a year, not a month. In such a short period of joint work, he will not be able to do everything that I require of him. This takes time. And the longer you work with one mentor, the more successfully he realizes all his ideas.
“For me, that’s what it’s all about,” continues the son of boxing legend Barry McGuigan. It doesn’t matter who’s in his corner. The whole point is to remove all unnecessary people from the team and completely trust the new mentor. Personally, I think Joshua would be perfect for Derrick James. And I don’t think Virgil Hunter is the right choice. Why is that? Because Virgil is a very defensive mentor. He focuses on defense and technique.”
A very interesting note from McGuigan: “Joshua thinks he’s an excellent theoretical student. He likes to analyze. But it seems to me that in fact he is still a student-practitioner. And in this case, he will need a mentor who can show everything in practice. A mentor who can keep you on your toes. And James can handle it. But personally, I would choose Ronnie Shields from everyone … “
Do you also think that Joshua cannot afford another defeat? Hearn’s father is sure of it. In the meantime, Anthony revealed how he would prepare for Fury: “That’s enough to win.”
