Anthony Joshua has slammed Robert Garcia in a new rant as he admitted the trainer didn’t teach him anything.
The former two-time heavyweight champion teamed up with the world-renowned coach before his second fight against Oleksandr Usyk last August. Joshua suffered his second defeat by the Ukrainian and subsequently parted ways with Garcia after just one fight.
‘AJ’ is now working with his third trainer in the space of two years as he split with Robert McCracken after being beaten by Usyk for the first time. Whilst dismissing a theory about his rematch against Usyk being delayed, Joshua gave a scathing assessment of Garcia’s coaching abilities.
“I recall when I was training for Usyk, and I had Robert Garcia onboard,” Joshua told 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. With Derrick James, I soak up every second I’m in that gym. Whether I’m successful or not, [new trainer] Derrick James is the truth. The time spent with him is very valuable. It all starts from the mind, it’s not just the mitts. He’s got a really good mindset.”
Garcia believed that Joshua showed signs of mental fragility in his second fight against Usyk. Joshua was taken aback by the comments and later admitted that he only partnered up with Garcia upon the advice of his other trainer Angel Fernandez, who struck up a good working relationship with Garcia.
“The situation I found myself in Garcia… I was actually working with Angel Fernandez and Angel knew that he needed to grow his experience so I left it with him to decide who he felt he would connect with best,” he said. “I believe that there’s not much point in the athlete in making a decision if the trainer doesn’t respect the other coach in the room.
Joshua’s new trainer guided him to his first win in over two years in April as ‘AJ’ won an unconvincing decision against Jermaine Franklin. Joshua is back in action on August 12 as he fights Dillian Whyte for the second time, almost eight years after knocking out his domestic rival in their first professional outing.