American coach Robert Garcia commented on the defeat of his British heavyweight ward Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) in a rematch with the Ukrainian WBA / WBO / IBF world champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) on August 20 in Saudi Arabia.
Recall that this was the first joint training camp of Joshua and Garcia.
According to the mentor, Anthony was defeated even before the final gong.
“Joshua mentally lost in the 10th or 11th round,” says Garcia. Usyk had a great tenth round. It changed the whole fight and mentally we were beaten. Up to this point, we were counting on a good punch or something, because Anthony is a strong puncher, and one punch can change everything. We hoped so, one punch, because by this point Anthony was dominating the fight.”
“The fight went well for us, but the 10th round changed everything,” the specialist repeats. “The last three rounds have changed the whole fight. In the ninth round we were close to victory, perhaps even by knockout. We led on the judges’ notes, but everything was decided in the last rounds. Usyk is a great fighter with an amazing heart who knows how to finish fights on the upswing. That’s what champions do.”
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“In the course of the ninth round, the guys in the corner and I were talking about the fact that the fight was ours. But nothing is decided until the final gong sounded,” Robert stated. – In the tenth round, Usyk added, and this turned the fight around. In the last few days, I even thought that it was Joshua who defeated himself mentally. In the ninth, he threw a lot of punches and nearly laid down Usyk. He may have depleted his reserves of strength trying to knock out Usyk, but it could be Usyk coming out stronger and more motivated in the tenth round. We do not know”.
“I think Usyk was mentally stronger in this fight. And instead of giving up, he added. His will and desire to demonstrate to his country that he could not afford to lose allowed him to return. He wanted to send a message to his country, he is a great inspiration for his people. It was his mind that helped break the battle and achieve victory. I think Joshua is a little weaker in this regard, ”summed up the coach.
It is noteworthy that Joshua himself indirectly blamed Garcia for the defeat.
Earlier, Usyk’s ex-coach also criticized Joshua’s staff.
Source:
boxing scene
