Three ace trainers, each possessing a different style and approach but each having both a great track record and a no-nonsense attitude and work ethic: Virgil Hunter, Ronnie Shields, Eddy Reynoso. It’s been confirmed now how former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua IS looking to make a switch in trainers, from long-time coach Rob McCracken to – well, maybe one of the above.
Joshua has been working a little with Shields, while AJ has also spent some time with Reynoso and Hunter. Which of these three excellent trainers will Joshua pick to work with, if he in fact picks any of the three? Plenty of people feel Joshua lost to Usyk in large part because he ‘fought the wrong fight’ on September 25; that the natural heavyweight did not use his advantages in size, weight, and power. In the return fight, which is expected to take place some time around March or April of next year, Joshua has to make it a more physical affair, in which he jumps right on the smaller man and bullies him and hits him frequently and hurts him plenty.
But can Joshua do it, and which of the three mastermind trainers he has been in touch with is best suited to help him do it? All three trainers have worked with the best of the best, and all three trainers have no shortage in big-fight experience. But is Joshua, a ‘ruined’ fighter, as Tim Bradley recently stated? Bradley says the shock stoppage loss Joshua suffered against Andy Ruiz back in June of 2019, ‘ruined him,’ that Joshua is too content with losing. If this is so, maybe not even Hunter, Shields or Reynoso can help AJ. If his mental confidence has gone, even the finest trainers will not be able to get him back on top.
Joshua has some big decisions to make and soon. Joshua’s very career will be on the line in the Usyk rematch. Lose again, and it could be the end. Who out of Reynoso, Shields and Hunter has the best chance to make sure this doesn’t happen?