On that strange New York night in June 2019, he was a distant shadow of the Popeye poster boy, unflinching in the face of heavyweight pressure, as Andy Ruiz crashed, thrashed and ruined his US bow. He went home, ditched the design and adopted a slimmer, new version of AJ to regain his belts in dominant fashion in Saudi Arabia later that year. The next “now I know” moment might well have come with 15 seconds remaining at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25 last year: Joshua crouched on the ropes, drawing on his last gasps to bomb and weave flurries from the Oleksandr Usyk before paying a wry smile as the bell rang, knowing that he had fought, knowing that he had faced a mastermind, knowing that he had been countered. If the realization that he would do things differently if given another chance hadn’t already sunk in, it did now. “I think, in all honesty, it wasn’t his fault, which it never was, so it was just a little bit of soul searching and finding solutions and figuring out what he could have done differently and just hearing different things and understanding what his next step should be,” Joshua’s training camp manager David ‘KD’ Ghansa told Sky Sports.
Live Usyk v Joshua 2: Build-up
Saturday 20 August 18:00
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Ahead of Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, Buddy McGirt, Ben Whittaker and Callum Smith reveal how they think the fight will play out. Joshua has taken every step in his career, good or bad. And while Rob McCracken’s mentorship helped shape his rise from Olympic glory to world champion, the man who threw the punches never shied away from responsibility or accountability. It was no different after Usyk, only this time the investigation proved that Joshua was likely due. He had succeeded in the pursuit. here was the toughest test of permanence. He parted ways with McCracken, envisioned extensions to the design, and headed Stateside to renovate, all in the face of the mustache itch he’d failed to scratch the first time around. “I think if we’re going to be completely honest with ourselves, Anthony was looking for something to add to what he was already doing,” added ‘KD.’ “You saw it for the second fight with Ruiz when he brought Angel (Fernandes) and Joby (Clayton) into camp. He just wanted to add a few more things to the arsenal, I don’t think he wanted a complete change. “He’s a creature of habit, he likes to do things consistently with the same people, but it got to the point where I felt that was the only option to get a different result. “I was a part of that. The next day we sat down with Eddie (Hearn) and he expressed that. We went over a few options that we could think of, he did his own research. “We made the trip and started shopping.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Adam Smith says Anthony Joshua must take a chance against Oleksander Usyk with everything on the line. Joshua and his team traveled to California to meet with Virgil Hunter, the man who was instrumental in guiding Andre Ward to the lightweight unification. He sought time with Ronnie Shields in Texas to test the waters with a man who had previously worked with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield and who had guided Jermall Charlo to middleweight glory. entered the world of Canelo Alvarez to choose the great boxing mind of Eddy Reynoso. The box-over-bang approach to try to match Usyk’s volatility was flawed, and Joshua was willing to admit as much in every conversation. America wanted to strip it all, rekindling his win over Dillian Whyte and the relentless mentality of his win over Klitschko. As Shields noted shortly after, Joshua intended to be “dog” in the rematch. “When you look at it, everything since turning pro has come his way, except for the trip to (Wladimir) Klitschko’s camp,” admitted ‘KD’. “So I think it was definitely something that took him out of his comfort zone. “The team planned to get him out there, they knew what they wanted to do, it was pretty much an interview process, but what was great was a lot of coaches threw things at him that we probably didn’t have. Like “are you willing to do this or do that”. “We didn’t know where the rematch would be, if it was in the UK we had no problem relying on America doing a camp.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Joseph Parker questions whether Oleksandr Usyk can handle the “pressure” of Anthony Joshua in Saturday’s rematch, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Returning to California, Joshua found what he was looking for in Robert Garcia, whose unfiltered honesty in analyzing fighters became popular. He was the man who told Joshua what was wrong, even if he didn’t like it. “When we first met in California last October, I just met the whole team, I talked to Anthony, I was crossing my fingers that they would pick me,” Garcia said. “I know they went to different coaches and different teams to try and see who was the best fit, but I really wanted it because I wanted that challenge. “I know after his loss everybody pretty much gave up on him, especially the media, the boxing fans. Again, a lot of people told me it’s already over, his mind, his heart, it’s not there anymore. I wanted to meet the challenge. “They flew me in December, the first time I spent 10 days with him and I’ve seen that he has incredible ability, his ability, his speed, his strength, his height, he has all the advantages. “I came back at the beginning of April for another 10 days and once again it was getting better and better and then I’d say probably three months ago was when I came and I stayed all three months, I’ve been here maybe almost four months already.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Anthony Joshua’s new trainer Robert Garcia reveals what it’s like working with AJ and admits a win on Saturday would be the best win of his coaching career. The build-up to Saturday has will and predicts a front-foot Joshua who can combat Usyk’s cunning with the physical power that world boxing fell in love with early in his career. It seems the message in the camp was the same. “In Fresno, we sat down at a table and he was very positive about what he wanted to do, what he wanted to learn, and he said, ‘I know I need to be more aggressive, I know I need to be a little bit more. the type that goes out there and looks for the fight to hurt your opponent,” Garcia said. “I said it’s perfect. Because that’s what everyone knows you need and he has to accept it. I don’t think it was that hard to adapt. We didn’t try to change something he hasn’t done before or something he can’t do. “Because earlier in his career he had that mentality. I think it was just his last fight with Usyk, his frustration was that Usyk was a lefty, very uncomfortable with his moves, so he felt he needed something new.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Carl Froch says Anthony Joshua needs to change his approach and use his power going into his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.
Why Garcia?
‘KD’ has been a part of Joshua’s rise from the start, and he knows the man outside the ring as well as anyone. So when Garcia emerged as a personal favorite, he had no qualms about letting it be known. “What I liked about Robert was more when I saw his interviews, we know what he’s done with previous fighters and his resume speaks for itself,” he said. “But what I saw in Robert was a man who spoke well of Anthony when he needed to, but there were times when he was critical of Anthony’s performances. He said things that might have ruffled some feathers. I liked the fact that he wasn’t like with a yes from outside. “He was definitely someone who would come in, see some flaws and have confidence. There were videos of him talking about fantasy matches and who would beat who, and Anthony wasn’t the pick at times, that was one of the main things I looked at. “Who wouldn’t just be happy to come and have a chance at one, the finances that come with working with Anthony Joshua and two, the glory and whatever else he could do with them personally.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player …
