Robert Garcia feels that Anthony Joshua made up an excuse with his reaction after losing to Oleksandr Usyk, when AJ threw the belts to the floor and left the ring. According to Garcia, it was a lack of respect, and describes what happened minutes later in the dressing room.
“When that happened, I was not close to him”, Robert Garcia told IZQUIERDAZO. “I don’t exactly know how it happened. When he grabbed the belts, I believed that he wanted to greet Usyk, and deliver the belts himself, recognizing Usyk as the champion or something like that. But then I saw that he went to a corner, and threw them to the floor. I saw a little bit of a lack of respect”.
But Garcia thinks that Anthony Joshua realized soon how wrong he was and tried to mend things.
“When he came back to the ring, he apologized”, García said. “We knew and he knew that it was wrong. I think it was desperation, as if he didn’t want to accept that he lost the fight. But in the dressing room, when we were speaking, we understood his frustration”.
Robert feels that AJ’s rant was an excuse trying to justify his defeat to his fans.
“I feel that he was trying to look for an excuse with the people who were supporting him”, Garcia explained. “Any fighter can feel the same. He exploded, and acted in a way that he shouldn’t have behaved like that. But it was something that he understood at that very moment, he came back to the ring, apologized, and then everything had a good ending”.
The trainer describes what he saw in Anthony Joshua at the dressing room, minutes after his rant in the ring.
“When he was in the dressing room, changing clothes, I could see his frustration”, Garcia remembers. “He couldn’t believe that he lost. He didn’t want to lose, of course, I know him, he didn’t want to lose. He was still upset, but we were able to relax him a little bit”.
One of the things that Robert Garcia noticed in AJ, was an urgency to fight again, as soon as possible.
“Eddie Hearn entered the room to be with us, and one thing that I liked was that Anthony quickly told him that he wanted to fight again, and do it soon”, Garcia said. “He told Hearn that he wants to fight in November. Hearn replied that he can arrange a fight for December, not November. But Anthony answered that he wants to fight as soon as possible, because he doesn’t want to be seen as a loser. He said that he wants to be back soon and win”.
Garcia agrees that December is a good time for his next fight.
“It was something that I liked in him”, Garcia said. “Regularly, after a tough fight like this one, a fighter wants to rest four, five, or six months, doing nothing. And then, resume training to fight eight or ten months later. Anthony wants to fight again in November, but Hearn wants December. I think December is better”.
The trainer likes that sense of urgency in Anthony Joshua.
“Anthony said that he wants to fight as soon as possible, because he doesn’t want to be seen as a loser”, Garcia reiterates. “For me, that is the attitude of a great warrior. I liked that he thinks that way. If the fight is in December, there is not much time left, just four months. He can rest for a couple of weeks, but we will keep training, and be in better form for December”.
