Anthony Joshua reveals why he sacked coaching crew for Usyk rematch

British professional boxer of Nigerian descent Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua has explained the decision to sack his coaching crew.

Joshua made his thoughts known at the London press conference for the heavyweight title bout against Oleksandr Usyk.

Back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021, Joshua lost to Usyk in 12 rounds.

Looking ahead to the rematch against Usyk, Joshua stated that he will not make the same mistake twice.

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At the press conference, Joshua revealed why he hired a new coaching crew for the rematch.

The 32-year-old Joshua revealed that the previous coaching crew led by Robert McCracken did not tell him that he was losing against Usyk.

He said, “I swear I thought I was. I thought I was looking like Muhammad Ali in there.

“I’m not blaming anyone by saying that but I didn’t get any impression I was losing the fight. I thought we were well in it. That’s why when they announced [Usyk’s] name I was kind of like: ‘huh?’”

For the fight against Usyk, Joshua revealed that his new trainer Robert Garcia has given him tactics to be victorious.

He said, ‘One of my strengths was my power but I always wanted to go down that path of being a clean boxer. 

“‘Hit and not get hit’, especially if I want to have a long and successful career. You need to have good defence but I moved away from the ferocious side of boxing where I knew I could hit and stun people.”

“I do miss the days of slicing people’s faces open and hurting them, for sure. So I am looking forward to getting back to that."

Usyk, who has been helping his country in Ukraine's war against Russia responded, “I don’t care how Anthony trains or what he does.

“I just worry about my training camp, what I eat, my work, my family and my country. If people are telling Joshua that the only way he wins is to pressure me and look for the knockout, then let them keep speaking.”

Joshua will have a chance to correct his mistake when he faces Usyk in the rematch scheduled to take place in Jeddah on Saturday, August 20.