Anthony Joshua's ex-coach has again suggested again the heavyweight was "mentally defeated" against Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua linked up with Robert Garcia for his second meeting against Usyk last August after parting ways with Rob McCracken, but was unable to earn revenge, losing by split decision. After taking some time away from the ring, 'AJ' has now announced his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin or April 1 at London's O2 arena.
Ahead of his ring return, Joshua confirmed he had gone his separate ways with Garcia and has now linked up with Derrick James in the US to prepare for his next outing. One of the reasons Joshua decided to move on was Garcia's criticism of his mental state during his recent losses.
“Joshua was mentally defeated since round 10 or 11,” Garcia told IZQUIERDAZO before later insisting it was mistranslated. “Round 10 was a big one for Usyk. That changed the whole fight, and mentally we were defeated. “I have even thought in these last few days that it was Anthony Joshua who mentally defeated himself. In this fight, I think that Usyk was mentally stronger."
Despite initially withdrawing his verdict on Joshua, Garcia appears to have since doubled down on his reasoning for the defeat. “Obviously a fighter in the ring is going to be challenged by what people say after the fight,” Garcia told iD Boxing. “Just because I was his trainer, doesn’t mean I’m going to lie about it. I wasn’t the only one that said that – he should be mad and frustrated at the whole world – because everyone said the same thing!
“When you have a fighter who does so good in one round, you’re almost about to stop your opponent, it makes a big difference when the next round is totally different. There was a lot to be said by so many boxing experts, I’m not the only one who said that.”
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Joshua was visibly frustrated after the final bell of his defeat to Usyk and lashed out during an X-rated rant, before tossing his rival's belts outside of the ring. The loss sees Joshua outside of the world title picture for the first time in a long while, but he intends to return alongside new coach James.
Since the comments surfaced, Joshua has revealed that he was left confused by Garcia's interview insisting it just didn't add up in comparison to their own conversations. Joshua told talkSPORT : “I just felt like, Garcia kind of said a lot, which baffled me as well. But I’m not a little boy.
“I can take it, but at the same time – I can’t talk about you, and you not back yourself. So, I said, ‘Rah, some things aren’t adding up to me, certain things that people are saying aren’t adding up. And that’s how I ended up being in this position now where I am based in Texas."
