In September 2021, the unified heavyweight champion Briton Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) lost the WBA Super, IBF and WBO belts to his mandatory challenger Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), after which he decided to refuse to cooperate with the mentor Rob McCracken.
American guru Robert Garcia prepared him for revenge. In August, Joshua looked much more competitive, but still lost by a split decision. It looks like the British superstar will change coach again. Rumor has it that it will be the American Roy Jones Jr.
In the meantime, a potential new mentor Joshua shared his opinion on what caused this decision: “As for me, they tried to make certain changes, but nothing came of it. I guess Joshua didn’t really understand what was required of him. That is, there was a certain problem in communication. They failed to communicate their demands clearly. Personally, that’s how I see the situation.”
According to Jones, “the changes they proposed didn’t really suit Joshua. If you yourself are a small stature, then it is very difficult for you to teach a big guy how he needs to fight another big guy. So Garcia a priori was not easy. I didn’t even want to watch the rematch so as not to be upset. After all, I know that Joshua could beat Usyk. How would I cook Anthony? Roughly the same concept as that of Garcia. Just a small Garcia. So he does things a little differently. It is for this reason that it is difficult for him to explain Joshua. Not that I was a big guy, but in the ring I had to deal with everyone.”
Then Jones began to recall his boxing exploits: “I went from junior middleweight to heavyweight. No one else in the history of boxing has been able to repeat this. I’m not a big guy, but even my arm span is bigger than Garcia’s. I understand what his plan for a rematch was, but sometimes I can’t get my point across because of seemingly trifles. I guess he couldn’t get his point across to Joshua in a way that Joshua would understand.”
To be honest, ringmates and experts do not believe in the Joshua-Jones tandem. The ex-contender addressed the heavyweight: Do you really want to go through all this again? And ex-sparring Joshua is simply shocked by this choice. A little earlier, the expert shared his thoughts – he also does not believe in Jones the coach.
