Dominic Ingle has revealed advice which was given – and not taken – to Anthony Joshua.
Anthony Joshua’s rise through the ranks of both the amateur and professional scene was meteoric. The Olympic Gold Medalist from Watford turned over in 2013 to begin a career that would play its part in putting British boxing on the map once again.
Ingle, who has trained the likes of Kell Brook and Kid Galahad, told Boxing King Media what he said to a young Joshua on the verge of his pro ranks campaign.
“Anthony Joshua was just embarking on his professional career, and he said to me ‘Any advice?’
And I went ‘Just don’t go knocking everybody out in the first round. Learn to negotiate the rounds. Get the experience in the early fights. Learn your trade in the first ten fights, and then when you get into the bigger, harder fights later on in your career you’ll be able to handle it.'”
‘AJ’, trying to pace himself or otherwise, knocked out his first 20 opponents. In fact, the heavyweight didn’t go more than three rounds until his 2015 meeting with Dillian Whyte – his 15th fight.
Ingle believes that the early success may have come back to haunt the former champion, who lost his last two fights to Oleksandr Usyk.
“Obviously he didn’t take that advice because I think for the first ten fights he flattened everybody in a round or two. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why now he’s going around everywhere trying to find the trainer to give him what he’s lacking.
Unfortunately what he’s lacking is something he needed to learn very early on in his career – the experience of being able to control an opponent in the ring.”
Many will argue that Joshua wouldn’t be the superstar he is today without the highlight reel of knockouts to back it up, however Ingle clearly thinks that gaining experience early on is more important than image.
Joshua’s trainer search has still not reached its conclusion – at least publicly – but there’s expected to be an announcement soon as to that decision as well as an opponent for the first half of the year.