Anthony Joshua had little choice but to shake up his coaching team before heading into a crucial rematch with Oleksandr Usyk this summer. And eight months after surrendering his unified heavyweight titles he finally appears set on the trainer who will navigate him through it.
According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Joshua has parted company with Rob McCracken on a definitive basis and turned to Robert Garcia, the highly-decorated Mexican-American coach with a catalogue of world champions on his CV.
In the wake of his conclusive defeat against Usyk, who proved far too slick and skilled over 12 rounds last September, AJ embarked on a Stateside tour to hunt down a new lead voice for his corner. Virgil Hunter, Ronnie Shields and Eddy Reynoso were all sounded out, but ultimately it was Garcia who impressed most.
Anthony Joshua is reportedly teaming with Robert Garcia for his rematch vs Oleksandr Usyk
The Mexican-American is one of the most knowledgeable trainers the sport has to offer
His reported decision has earned widespread applause in the boxing world, and rightly so.
Over the best part of two decades Garcia has established himself as the creme de la creme of coaches, working with countless elite names, masterminding 14 world title wins and amassing a lofty reputation as a result.
The 47-year-old is best known for his work with brother and prize student Mikey, a former four-weight world champion whose career only recently derailed after an ambitious-but-costly shot at welterweight chief Errol Spence Jr clearly left a lasting effect.
Before that, under the tutelage of his older sibling, as well as father Eduardo, Mikey had racked up 39 straight victories, claimed world honours at featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight, and also emerged as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
While his own fighting IQ and mean power is of course what makes him special, Mikey could not have reached those heights without his brother’s wisdom behind him. It is something he has acknowledged in the past.
‘When my dad started feeling the age, getting tired with the laborious work, my brother stepped in for the world-title fights and with his experience as a champion fighter while relying on my dad’s training principles, we make a better team,’ he told the LA Times in 2018.
Garcia is best known for his work in the corner of four-time world champion brother Mikey
Mikey was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet not so long ago
With the help of his brother and father Eduardo he swept up titles in four weight classes
‘They know me better than anyone else. They raised me. They understand what I’m capable of doing and I know everything they instruct me to do is for my own good, so I pay attention.’
As Mikey noted, Garcia is able to pass on knowledge to his fighters as a former world champion himself. The California native enjoyed a successful career of his own, winning 32 straight contests and capturing the IBF super-featherweight championship before Diego Corrales knocked him out in October 1999.
A run of two defeats in his next three bouts was followed by a stoppage of John Trigg in September 2001, however this would mark the closing chapter of his fighting story. Garcia knew his true calling was on the other side of the ropes.
‘I just didn’t have the heart to go out and beat someone up. I did it because it was my job and so I had to do it, but I never had the fire and I never loved to do it,’ he said after the final outing of his career against Trigg.
‘That wasn’t me. That wasn’t who I am. When I was in the ring that night, in the second and third round, I was asking myself, “Why am I doing this? Why am I beating up on that guy?” I wanted to walk out right then and there.’
Despite achieving his dream of becoming world champion, there is no doubt that Garcia has since proven himself a better trainer than fighter.
As well as brother Mikey, his expertise in the corner has led Marcos Maidana, Brandon Rios, Jose Ramirez, Abner Mares, Brian Viloria, Steven Luevano and many more to world honours.
Garcia was a world champion in his own career but has since proven a better trainer, guiding 14 fighters – including Brandon Rios (left) – to world titles
The tenacious Marcos Maidana was another star he inspired to world honours as a trainer
Maidana’s relentless pressure and aggression was the perfect fit for Garcia’s own blueprint
Virtually all of the aforementioned six shared similar traits; durable, physically strong fighters capable of employing aggression and roughhouse tactics up close to wear their opponents down.
None fit that description better than Maidana, whose relentless pressure and unparalleled tenacity ended Adrien Broner’s undefeated record and gave Floyd Mayweather all sorts of problems.
Garcia is a wise and calm head in the corner but his fighters are often anything but passive. His blueprint, centred around volume punching, pressure and power, is intended to suffocate and overwhelm opponents – just as Maidana achieved against Broner.
After inflicting a humbling defeat on the outspoken world champion, Garcia lifted the lid on the intense game plan which led them to victory.
‘We were ready to throw 100 punches a round,’ he said. ‘It was like he threw more in some rounds, or like he could come close to that. We know that’s the only way to beat somebody like Adrien Broner, or that’s the way to beat somebody like Floyd Mayweather and that’s the way that [Roberto] Duran beat Sugar Ray Leonard the first time.
‘Those are the types of styles that beat the great defensive fighters. Don’t respect them, keep the pressure on them. That’s how [Julio Cesar] Chavez Sr was eventually able to beat [Meldrick] Taylor by knocking him out in the last round, by just constantly keeping up the pressure and throwing punches and not giving him the respect and no chance at all to breathe. That’s what Maidana did to Adrien Broner.’
Garcia instructed ‘Chino’ to throw 100 punches per round in his dominant win vs Adrien Broner
Every fighter has different qualities, and Joshua is certainly no Maidana. For a start, his stamina has come into question on numerous occasions; particularly in the loss against Usyk, who almost stopped him in round 12, and his thrilling win over Wladimir Klitschko.
The latter performance demonstrates why attempting to replicate Maidana’s 100 punches per round would most probably end in disaster. On the biggest night of his career at that point, Joshua floored Klitschko and had him out on his feet during round five, yet after unloading the tank found himself floundering on the ropes as it drew to a close.
Though while he hasn’t previously boasted the same engine or punch output as a Maidana, AJ can improve this side of his game alongside a trainer as experience and savvy as Garcia, as well as learn how to enforce more educated pressure on Usyk.
There is no doubt that he must apply rougher tactics up close this time around – doing so represents his only chance of victory. As their first contest proved, standing at range and playing chess with the chessmaster will nine times out of 10 end in defeat for him.
The danger in closing the distance on a foe as skilled as Usyk, of course, is that he could very well make you pay.
The former undisputed cruiserweight king has come up against his fair share of brawling inside fighters over the years and dealt with them. Plus, he will be expecting a new-and-improved Joshua to enforce more pressure in the return bout, which could play into his hands.
In his rematch with Usyk, Joshua needs to apply more educated pressure to come out on top
Joshua’s punch resistance is also a concern, with bouts against Dillian Whyte, Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin all bringing hairy moments before Andy Ruiz Jr knocked him out emphatically.
Nevertheless, in his quest to become a three-time heavyweight champion of the world he has to make the most of his physical advantages intelligently against Usyk – and there is no better coach than Garcia, Ring Magazine’s Trainer of the Year in 2011, to bring it out of him.
Eight months ago AJ painfully discovered he is no match for Usyk when it comes to a long-range battle of technique. Channeling Garcia’s Mexican style and swarming the champion with pressure is his only hope of redemption, despite the fact it will be new territory for him.
Usyk very much remains the favourite ahead of their rematch, now slated for mid-August due to a delay concerning broadcast rights. Regardless, this link-up is a fascinating one which undoubtedly boosts Joshua’s chances of a third coronation as heavyweight champion.
Source: Daily Mail Online