Anthony Joshua is yet to decide who will train him for his ring return in 2023.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champion brought in esteemed Mexican coach Robert Garcia for his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in September.
Although Joshua displayed clear improvements from a lacklustre defeat to the masterful Ukrainian 12 months earlier, he lost on points once again as Usyk recovered from a torrid ninth round to put his foot down over the championship rounds.
Garcia joined Joshua’s camp after the Briton amicably parted with long-time coach Robert McCracken in the aftermath of the first Usyk fight. He worked in the corner alongside Angel Fernandez, who joined Joshua’s team initially alongside McCracken after his first professional loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
Now, after losing three of his previous five outings, it seems there could be further changes behind the scenes for the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, who had been ticking over in the gym before a proposed December 3 showdown with WBC champion and Tyson Fury collapsed.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn spoke to The Sporting News at the launch event for Dmitry Bivol’s WBA light-heavyweight showdown with Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez in Abu Dhabi and conceded he is in the dark over his fighter’s training plans.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Robert Garcia is a fantastic trainer but we’ll see what the plans are for his camp next time.”
Scheduled fight dates are more Hearn’s domain and Joshua will fly to the Middle East later this week to put his 2023 plans in order.
Long-time domestic rival Dillian Whyte is back in action against undefeated American Jermaine Franklin on November 26 at Wembley Arena. If he comes through that then a rematch with Joshua, who knocked Whyte out in the seventh round of a December 2015 shootout, will be on the cards.
The lines of communication between Hearn’s Matchroom and Deontay Wilder’s representative Shelly Finkel have also re-opened recently. Fights with Whyte and Wilder are a far cry from initial suggestions after the Usyk rematch that Joshua might embark upon a rebuilding phase, boxing four times a year to build rhythm and confidence.
“I think he sort of said I don’t see the point in having easy fights. I’ve never done it, can I get myself up for it in the same way?” Hearn explained.
“I just want him to get active, I want him to improve, I want him to enjoy boxing. If he waits until April or May he’ll go into a bigger fight. If he fights in February he’ll have still a big fight but maybe not a Whyte or someone like that.
“He’s coming here this week and we’re going to sit down and map out his next move.”
If a February fight is the route selected, Hearn insisted the opponent would still be a top-15 ranked heavyweight. Attention would then turn towards a bigger fight in late spring/early summer.
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Hearn conceded there can be difficulties in this regard when it comes to marrying up what is best for Anthony Joshua the boxer aiming to become a three-time heavyweight champion and Anthony Joshua the multinational business and entertainment property.
“When he finishes a fight he has to do two months of commercial activity. So it is difficult,” he added. “He wants to get active and he wants to improve.”
In Abu Dhabi, a place of vast wealth and commerce alongside world championship boxing this week, Hearn, Joshua and his team will once again try to square that circle.
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