American mentor Robert Garcia spoke about the breakup with the star ex-unified heavyweight champion British Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs). Together they had only one fight – in August in Saudi Arabia they lost in revenge to the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs).
“Anthony personally called me and informed me of his decision,”
tells Garcia. “And I respect that. I understand why he made this decision. And, believe me, I wish him success. I probably wouldn’t have been able to train him any further. As far as I understand, he will return to the ring in the spring. And he wants to camp again in England. It would be difficult for me, because around the same time Jose (Ramirez) will return to the ring. And he’s got a fucking tough fight (for the WBC title with champ Regis Prograis).”
Garcia shared his advice with Joshua and cited his biggest challenge: “What advice would I give Anthony? He knows this, I told him about it the day after we parted ways. It doesn’t matter who will be his next coach. Even if it’s me. He needs a change of scenery, camp in the US, work with young hungry fighters. You can’t say: “Today I don’t want to spar – I’m not in the right mood.” Or “I don’t want to train today – I didn’t sleep well at night.”
Garcia figured out who could replace him on the coaching bridge: “The whole point is not that someone is better, but someone is worse. It’s not about the names. Derrick James, Virgil Hunter, myself, or Joshua’s previous coach. It’s all about something else. It’s about getting him out of his comfort zone. Stop playing boss. A fighter must do what he is told. He should not think about comfort. He shouldn’t be comfortable. You know… Joshua is insanely talented. His power is simply incredible. He just needs to believe in himself.”
Meanwhile, the promoter explained why Wallin is the best opponent for Joshua. And the ex-champion assessed his chances against the UFC elite.
