Anthony Joshua has praised his new coach Derrick James for teaching him the fundamentals of boxing ahead of his comeback fight.
Former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua, 33, is gearing up for his UK return as he faces Jermaine Franklin at The O2 arena next weekend. The Brit is without a win in over two years as he lost his unified heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021 and failed to win them back in their rematch last August.
‘AJ’ is working with his third trainer in the space of two years as James will look to guide him back to winning ways against Franklin, whose only professional defeat came to Dillian Whyte last November. Joshua parted ways with longtime coach Robert McCracken after his first loss to Usyk and later split with Robert Garcia after just one fight. The Brit has praised James for his tutelage and thinks the coach is a perfect fit for him.
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“When I first came in boxing, I was at Finchley Boxing Club for about a year before I got taken up to the Olympic team in Sheffield. There wasn’t much of that development stage, if I was boxing from 10 years old. you kind of go through learning the game but I was always in a situation where I was preparing for big fights and tournaments. Fast forward three years as an amateur, I turned professional and three years into that I won the British title and then became world champion.
“In the back of my mind I knew I was doing good, but I wanted to actually learn boxing. Angles, movements, positioning. It’s crazy because a lot of us fighters are learning whilst we’re fighting. It’s not the fact that I went to Derrick James looking for the old-school style, but on that quest to improve and get what I need I stumbled across him.
Joshua is on a mission to win his world titles back but he could be set for a non-title fight against a huge opponent if he gets past Franklin. His promoter Eddie Hearn recently laid out a plan for ‘AJ’ which involves blockbuster fights against Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder later in the year. As happy as Joshua is under his new coach, the Brit insisted that he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the trainer.
“I really do rate Derrick James as a trainer. Lastly, I don’t want to put pressure on Derrick and say whatever happens in the future is down to him, good or bad. It’s all on me but asides from what he does for me, I just think Derrick as a coach I really do rate him highly,” he added.
