Famous Cuban boxing coach Ismael Salaswho is currently working with British heavyweight prospect (over 90.7 kg) Joe Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs), gave
interview for the British news portal on the eve of the ward’s fight against the German Christian Hammer (27-9, 17 KOs).
The mentor compared Joyce with his compatriot, ex-champion in two categories David Haye, and also told how the former unified champion from Britain Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) defeated the Ukrainian holder of three titles Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 22 KOs) in a rematch 13 KOs).
Joe Joyce returns to the ring on Saturday night. You’ve worked with so many great fighters, how do you compare Joe Joyce to the best fighters you’ve worked with?
— The most important thing is that he loves to listen, he loves to learn. We’ve been together for several years. There was a time when we parted ways because of my injuries, but I’m very happy to be back and working with him because he’s a great person. As a fighter, he is very good, but the main thing for me is the personality of the person.
— You also worked with David Haye. They are both big punchers. How do you compare the power of Haye and Joyce?
– Let me tell you. David Haye could knock out with one punch. In the case of Joe Joyce, it is a constant worry. Everyone he touches, they feel it. He may not be one punch knockout, but he has intensity throughout the fight. No heavyweight is comparable to Joyce right now. Joe Joyce is the George Foreman of today.
– Joe has a very good position in the WBO rankings. He is behind Oleksandr Usyk, who is dating Anthony Joshua again. Do you think Joe Joyce will fight Anthony Joshua?
– No coach will tell you about the defeat. Do you understand? I always have the mentality of a winner. I try to transfer this energy to all my fighters. I’ve been in over 170 title fights. We have been in the underdog position many times and we have won. Like Ugas when he fought Pacquiao. Ugas was the underdog. I had many of these fighters. This fight would be a great fight if Joshua beats Usyk in a rematch. In any case, we expect any of them: Usyk or Joshua. It would be great for Joe Joyce.
Tell us about the rematch between Joshua and Usyk. If you were training Joshua for this fight, what would you tell him to do to win the rematch?
– As for me, he lacked something in the first battle. He lacked coordination between his right and left hands. To beat Usyk, Joshua needs to develop a right straight. Down the drain, as we say in Boston. And then he has to finish with a left, left hook. The main combos for Joshua are right and left hooks, right and left uppercuts. In that fight, he had only one hit. Heavyweights don’t need big punch combinations. Everything is very simple here. I think we need to go back more to simplicity and basics. And I believe that now Robert Garcia will bring the best out of Joshua. I hope everything goes well for them.
Meanwhile, Fury volunteered to groom Joshua for a rematch with Usyk. Opinion of Robert Garcia.
