British trainer Shane McGuigan has offered his thoughts on Anthony Joshua’s future trainer, as the two-time heavyweight champion tours the United States once again, in the hope of finding a new cornerman.
McGuigan, son of former featherweight champion Barry, has proven his worth with a whole heap of British talent over recent years.
The 34-year-old helped guide Carl Frampton to a world title and has since gone on to train the likes of George Groves, Josh Taylor, Lawrence Okolie and Daniel Dubois.
In an interview with Boxing King Media, McGuigan explained that Joshua needs to give his new trainer time to help him develop, as opposed to sacking him after one fight, as he recently did with Robert Garcia and went on to suggest who AJ should choose.
“If I am a trainer, with a fighter coming to me, I need time for it to click. You come down the gym and see Adam Azim, you see the transition that he has had over the whole year. After a month, or two months of working, he’s not going to be able to do everything that I want him to do. It takes time to implement those things and the longer that you are with someone, the more you can implement.
Whoever he goes with now, I think he should get shut off all of the other people around him and knuckle down and give full faith. I personally think that Derrick James is a great trainer, I don’t think Vergil Hunter is the right fit for him, he’s a very defensive, very technical trainer. I think he breaks things down too technical.
Anthony Joshua might think he’s a verbal learner and likes to analyse things, but I think he is more of a practical learner. If you have got someone who is a practical learner like that, then you need someone who is going to do a lot of physical pads, which Derrick James will do. Personally, I think out of all of them, he should go with Ronnie Shields.”
Shields, former trainer of Mike Tyson, would be a smart appointment due to his experience in the heavyweight division. However, there could be an obstacle in the way of becoming AJ’s go-to man, with Shields currently training Filip Hrgovic, a possible opponent for Joshua.
Joshua is expected to return to the ring in late March or early April according to promoter Eddie Hearn, with Otto Wallin and Dillian Whyte seemingly at the front of the queue for the fight.