Anthony Joshua’s preparations for his imminent rematch with Dillian Whyte are currently taking place under the studious eye of Derrick James in Texas.
This is not the first time that Joshua has spent time with an American trainer as his 2022 contest with Oleksandr Usyk was carried out with Robert Garcia in his corner, but it’s not an experience that Joshua looks back on fondly.
Aiming to avenge a 2021 loss to the Ukrainian fighter, Joshua left Robert McCracken for Garcia, but the second meeting brought the same result as the first encounter.
Joshua made further changes in the rematch’s immediate aftermath with Derrick James replacing Garcia and he’s now had his say on his time spent with the Californian.
“I recall when I was training for Usyk, and I had Robert Garcia onboard,” said Joshua when speaking to talkSPORT.
“The fight date kept getting pushed back and the general conversation in the Usyk camp was ‘We need this fight to happen soon, because we don’t want AJ to spend as much time as possible with Robert Garcia.’”
"In my mind I was like, I didn’t feel like I was being taught anything, so I didn’t think it mattered if I spent a year [with him], I was still going to do my thing anyway.”