Anthony Joshua is enjoying life under Robert Garcia but has warned fans not to expect a brand new fighter when he takes on Oleksandr Usyk.
For his world title rematch where the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight belts are on the line in Jeddah, AJ has brought in a new trainer in the form of Garcia.
Joshua and Usyk previously battled it out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London last September when the Ukrainian battled his way to victory in 12 rounds.
In the aftermath, Joshua was widely criticized for this game plan of trying to take out one of the most technically gifted boxers in the world in Usyk.
In an attempt to undo that result, Joshua made drastic changes for the second fight, moving his camp to Loughborough and parting ways with longtime trainer Rob McCracken.
Since then he hired Angel Fernandez and especially Garcia who won The Ring Magazine ‘Trainer of the Year’ in 2011 and guided 14 fighters to world titles, despite none of them being heavyweights.
The British fan favorite found his new coach a big help ahead of his rematch with Usyk, but after just a few months of working together, ‘AJ’ admits he’s not the finished article yet.
“It’s hard to adapt to someone’s whole style in the space of three or four months,” Joshua told talkSPORT.
“But he certainly showed me a lot of things and he was a big help to me.
“There are so many ways people can help. So he helped me. It’s not about changing my whole style because I can’t.
“I’m a lanky boxer but he just helped me push myself in the gym, throw more punches, get in shape – that kind of stuff makes a big difference.”
Joshua is hoping for a repeat of the first and last time he fought in the Middle East after easily beating Andy Ruiz in their 2019 rematch after the Mexican heavyweight upset him in New York a few months prior .
It will be a much tougher task against Usyk, who is considered by many to be the number one pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.
However, if he is able to pull off the upset, the rewards could be huge for Joshua with an undisputed potential fight with Tyson Fury awaiting the winner.
Usyk vs. Joshua 2 on talkSPORT