Despite the recent trainer change, Anthony Joshua is adamant that he won’t over-complicate things or add much to his game when facing Jermaine Franklin on April 1.
The fight is billed as a ‘new dawn’ for the former unified heavyweight champion, who has suffered two consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in his last outings.
He told TalkSPORT that he would focus on his strengths when the first bell rings rather than reinventing himself.
“Are we going to see something different? You can’t really say that … I’ll be lying to you if I was like ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to come out southpaw…’
It’s all bulls***, I’m going to go in there and do what the f*** I do and I’m going to get this win. That’s what I’m focusing on. Let me go in there and do my job, I’m going to do my best, I’m not going to make it over complicated, I’m a good fighter.
I’ve got a f****** good jab, good defence, good right hand, good uppercut, and I’ll find the gaps needed to break my opponent down.”
Much has been made of ‘AJ’s latest trainer switch, this time to Texan Derrick James. The former champion split with longtime coach, Robert McCracken after his first defeat to Usyk to team up with Robert Garcia.
Another loss and a bizarre post-fight relationship saw that partnership end, too.
Pundits reckon James – who corners unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr and undisputed light middleweight world champion Jermell Charlo – will bring out the aggression that many fans have felt to be lacking in Joshua’s most recent contests.
If the Brit is searching for a stoppage, he won’t be the only one. Franklin feels he has been burned by officiating on this side of the pond after his loss to Dillian Whyte, and is adjusting his game plan accordingly so as to leave the judges out of it.