"He has to adapt" - Anthony Joshua trainer Angel Fernandes on the Oleksander Usyk rematch
One of Anthony Joshua’s trainers Angel Fernandez spoke about what ‘AJ’ has to do to be successful in the Oleksander Usyk rematch. Joshua will attempt to regain the WBA, WBO and IBF World Heavyweight Championships against Usyk on August 20
Fernandez said:
“We have to take into this fight different approaches, you know It's going to be a fight where he has to adapt. Things might change round-to-round and he has to get used to it to that adaptability between the rounds. So, there will be rounds where yes, he is going to be the aggressor and there might be rounds where he might need to box.”
Watch the full interview here:
Joshua will have a new training team for the rematch against Usyk. Rob McCracken, who guided Joshua to Olympic Gold and to becoming a two-time world champion, has been axed and replaced with Robert Garcia. Joining Garcia in the corner will be Angel Fernandez and Joby Clayton. Clayton can be heard audibly praising Joshua’s performance during the first fight.
Anthony Joshua has been critical of his training team
Anthony Joshua recently complained that there were too many voices in his corner during his first fight with Oleksander Usyk. The former champion was also critical of the advice given by his corner.
In an interview with the The Guardian, Anthony Joshua said:
“There was a lot going on in the corner and that didn’t help... It wasn’t like: ‘Take the fight to this fu**er. Listen, you’re losing the fight.’ No. A trainer needs to tap into that psychological aspect. Sometimes you need to tell your fighter that: ‘Yeah, we’re losing a world championship fight.’”
Fernandez and Clayton were both in Joshua’s corner during the first fight. The only change that Joshua has made has been replacing McCracken with Garcia. However, Fernandez has been promoted to head trainer.
Watch Spencer Fearon breakdown the issues in Joshua’s corner:
Having multiple voices offering different advice is not unusual in boxing. Tyson Fury had both Ben Davison and Freddie Roach in his corner for the first fight against Deontay Wilder. Roach was extremely critical of Davison, who asked Fury to box on the back foot. Roach believed that Fury should have gone for the knockout.
Neither Roach nor Davison were present for Wilder vs. Fury II and III. In both of those fights, Fury stopped Wilder under the tutelage of SugarHill Steward. Since then, Fury has praised Steward for making him the fighter that he is today. Anthony Joshua will be hoping that he can have a similar and successful dynamic with Robert Garcia.