Anthony Joshua will continue to be trained by Robert Garcia as he looks to rebuild his career following his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was seeking redemption in Saudi Arabia earlier this month when he touched gloves with Usyk for a second time, but was on the wrong end of the judges scorecards once again. The former two-time champion will now require a rebuild to reach the top again after another tough loss.
'AJ' drafted in Garcia in a bid to come up with a winning gameplan to overturn his original defeat to Usyk last September, but he fell short despite showing significant improvements. Garcia has now revealed Joshua is eyeing a return in December and he expects to be involved again.
“It was something that I liked in him”, Garcia told IZQUIERDAZO when talking about Joshua's future after losing to Usyk. “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.
"Anthony 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. For me, that is the attitude of a great warrior. I like that he thinks in 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."
Garcia was recruited by Joshua after his extensive tour of US gyms to search for a replacement for long-term trainer Rob McCracken. The American was initially flying over in secret to work with Joshua at his new Loughborough University campus where he had taken up his camp working with Angel Fernandez.
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Joshua was understandably cut up after the final bell and threw the title belts out of the ring before starting to storm back to the dressing room. He then launched into an X-rated rant after grabbing the microphone which further displayed his frustration at his inability to conquer Usyk.
Joshua's promoter Hearn revealed that he held a lengthy phone call with the heavyweight to re-energise him after the fight. "I just finished 57-minutes with 'AJ' on the phone, I said to him 'AJ' you're so smart. You've got your own mind and eyes, look at what you've done. You've changed the sport in this country, maybe even globally. You're a two-time world heavyweight champion," Hearn told DAZN's Boxing Show.
"I also said to him remember one thing, you did well on Saturday. You boxed well, those people he talked about getting respect from, they respect him for that performance."
