Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Briton Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) surprised when he began explaining his decision to change coach Rob McCracken to Robert Garcia after losing to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) in September.
On the eve of the revenge, which will be held on August 20 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia),
Joshua statedthat “I finally understood one simple truth. No need to sweat and try to control everything. It doesn’t matter what I want. Much more important is what the coach wants. It is necessary to create such conditions that it would be comfortable for him to teach me. I handed over the reins to them. Said, “I think we need to work on this and that. But I want you to make the final decision.” I’m like a sponge. Ready to absorb, ready to learn. And their task is to create the right atmosphere, the atmosphere of happiness.”
Joshua claims that his environment is very important to him: “The relationships within the team affect me. I feel uncomfortable if sparring partners don’t get along with each other. If the coaches do not talk to each other. This is the main difference between this training camp and the previous one. Rob (McCracken) and I worked on the mitts and on the bag, shadow boxing. He gave me some advice. But now Robert (Garcia) and Angel (Fernandez) are different. They have clearer goals, more bet on tactics and on following them.
“Garcia’s workouts are a little more exhausting because my brain gets a lot more information to absorb. But, as they say, hard to learn, easy to fight, Joshua smiles. – Confidence in your strength? No, I have a lot of respect for Garcia, but I don’t need to train for that. I get my confidence from training and sparring. You know, a coach can tell a lot to his fighter. But if he is not able to use the received information in the ring, then what is the point of all this?
Joshua and McCracken have been working together for over 10 years since the amateur ring. Earlier, promoter Eddie Hearn said that Joshua will fight in December, no matter how the rematch with Usyk ends. And he finally realized that Anthony was no longer the leader of the heavyweight: “Although it hurts me to admit it …”
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