Despite being less than pleased with all the waiting around he has been forced to undergo ahead of his massive, must-win return fight with Oleksandr Usyk, former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua says he is in “a good place” right now and that he is extremely pleased to be working with new trainer Robert Garcia. Speaking once again with IFL TV, Joshua said “a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter,” and that he is “working on a few things” with Garcia, not trying to change his style.
AJ says the addition of Garcia’s experience to his camp is “priceless.”
“The main thing is a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter, I’m in a good place,” AJ said. “Garcia’s actually here now, we are working on just a few things. It’s not about changing style as such. Garcia’s style might be crouch down, bob and weave but I’m a six-foot heavyweight. It’s not about changing style, it’s about his experience and what he knows at championship level. Adding that to camp is priceless in my opinion. As annoying as it is (being made to wait for the Usyk rematch), it is what it is. As much as I’d love to get in there tomorrow but I can’t. Until I’m at the official press conference and I can say ‘this is the official date,’ I think it’s subject to change again.”
The fans share Joshua’s frustration but of course there have been factors at work delaying the fight; the Ukraine conflict in particular. Being patient is one thing a world class fighter has to be good at these days and Joshua seems to understand this. The more time Joshua has to work with Garcia before the Usyk rematch the better for him and his chances of winning. This is the hope AJ has anyway.
One thing about Joshua is the fact that he is always in the gym, never allowing himself to get out of shape. But can Garcia get AJ that edge back, that belief? Joshua says he is not changing his style, yet most fans agree he cannot fight Usyk the same way as he did last September. Garcia needs to get the spite back into Joshua’s work. But can he do it?