Potential Anthony Joshua opponent Demsey McKean has shed some light on his experience sparring ‘AJ,’ and it’s clear the big Australian won’t be lacking belief should he land the big money fight.
News broke earlier this week that the undefeated McKean was the new front runner for Joshua’s comeback fight in April, after the Brit had previously been linked to the likes of Otto Wallin and Zhilei Zhang.
Despite reports suggesting that Team Joshua will pick someone else as their next opponent, McKean talked to the media about the potential fight.
McKean sparred Joshua ahead of his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk, and has clearly taken confidence from the experience should he and Joshua do battle 10oz gloves.
Asked by Sky Sports if he could be the man to retire ‘AJ’, he said he was confident he could be.
“I could be, and I’m very confident in doing that as well. But, don’t get me wrong, there’s still more fights for AJ if he loses to me – an undefeated top ten heavyweight – that’s not the end … and people probably don’t give him the respect that he does deserve for what he has done for the heavyweight division.”
“Three losses on the trot, he’s very well set up – does he need to be doing this any further … He does doubt himself a lot, I know that. But who wouldn’t when they’re at the top in the limelight [copping] a lot of criticism?”
“There’s a lot of factors, but I’ve got the skills to do that for sure.”
Speculation over Joshua’s training situation also looks set to finally come to an end, with promoter Eddie Hearn revealing today that the former unified world champion had reached an agreement with an unnamed American trainer.
The 2017 Ring Magazine trainer of the year Derrick James is widely believed to be the man in question, and Joshua is expected to relocate to Dallas, Texas to begin camp in the coming weeks.
James currently works with the likes of Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo and is regarded as amongst the best trainers in the sport.
Joshua had worked with Robert Garcia for his unsuccessful rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, having previously split with long time coach Rob McCracken after his first loss to the Ukrainian.
We expect an announcement as to both a trainer and opponent soon.