Robert Garcia has given his thoughts on Anthony Joshua’s post fight antics following defeat in his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk last August.
Joshua took the microphone from the victorious Usyk before throwing the champion’s belts away, in what many observers described as a “meltdown.”
When asked about the incident in a recent interview with ID Boxing, Garcia – who trained ‘AJ’ for the fight – put it down to combination of frustration, embarrassment and even being a little ashamed of his performance.
“What happened after the fight, when he grabbed the mic and all that, I think that was a lot of frustration. I think that had to do with knowing you were so close and you let it go – and maybe a little bit of embarrassment.
That reaction wasn’t the right reaction that a fighter normally has, you don’t see it that often.
It wasn’t just me that said he was frustrated and that he was a little, you know, could be a little ashamed of his performance.”
Despite only having one short camp together, Joshua parted ways with Garcia after the Usyk rematch, and has elected to work with Derrick James for his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin next month.
The Brit has relocated to Dallas, Texas to train in James’ gym, which boasts the likes of Erroll Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo.
There is hope that the aggressive style James’ imprints on his fighters, coupled with getting away from prying eyes in the UK, could bring out the best version of Joshua fans have seen in years.
Though he goes into the fight with Franklin a firm favourite, there is big pressure on Joshua as many feel defeat could spell the end of his career.
Franklin proved against Dillian Whyte last time out that he can mix it at the top of the division, however, and will have all the confidence in the world of upsetting the applecart on April 1st at the 02 Arena.