Trainer Robert Garcia has been revealing plenty about what it was like to be in camp with former charge Anthony Joshua, while also paying tribute to his first coach Rob McCracken.
Garcia trained British heavyweight Joshua for just one fight – an unsuccessful rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in 2022. It was the second of two back-to-back fights with the Ukraninan but, ultimately, Joshua failed to win back the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles he lost the year before.
Since then, there has been plenty of back and forth with ‘AJ’ claiming McCracken didn’t teach him defence and how he needs to get those years back. Speaking to Little Giant Boxing, Garcia shared his views on what his previous coach has done for Joshua.
“I heard he doesn’t give credit to his original trainer, his first trainer.
Man that guy made him an Olympian, a gold medalist, a unified heavyweight champion of the world. That guy deserves a lot of credit, man. I don’t know him personally but for what he did, what he accomplished with Anthony, he should get most of the credit. “
Garcia went on to speak of Joshua’s current trainer, Derrick James, who also works with Errol Spence Jr, Jermell Charlo and Ryan Garcia.
“One fight with Derrick James, he’s a great coach, I’ve said it many times, I have a lot of respect for him, but one win, that doesn’t mean you made all the difference.
I didn’t see the fight [with Jermaine Franklin] but everybody was telling me he didn’t look that good.”