Anthony Joshua column: New trainer has changed my mentality — and Oleksandr Usyk will feel the full force

18 August 2022

I’ve been a month in the desert, training, acclimatising and getting ready for a fight that will go down in boxing history.

It’s playing out in 190 countries all over the planet and the eyes of the world will be on me. It’s the ultimate heavyweight championship fight with a lot on the line.

It’s my second time fighting in Saudi Arabia and all I can really say is that I’ve been made to feel at home. Already, you can see the impact that boxing is having here as a force for good. Since my last fight here against Andy Ruiz Jr, they’ve opened up 49 new boxing gyms.

The local people have embraced me and looked after me, whether that be in my hotel or the local gym where I’ve been training day in, day out. It has been an amazing experience and the perfect preparation for this fight.

Anthony Joshua and Robert Garcia.

Getty Images

The turnout and reception at the public workout this week was great. The work of the past month and the months before that has been very intense. Despite that, I feel pretty calm. That’s always my way.

It helps in the people around me. I’ve surrounded myself with most of the same people from the very start, they know me, they know what makes me tick and that helps to create the perfect training camp environment.

The big change has been in bringing Robert Garcia to the training team. It felt right to make a change but I took my time to find the right match that would work for me and the rest of the coaches around me.

It has not been about drastically changing my style when it comes to the fight but, as a trainer and a fighter before that, he has so much experience of big championship fights. That’s just further experience and expertise to my armoury.

But it is also a change of mentality helping to get that aggression out. After all, this is the Rage on the Red Sea! And Oleksandr Usyk will see the full force of that in Jeddah on Saturday night.

There has been talk about all the belts that are on the line, including the Ring belt after Tyson Fury vacated that one. But you can get lost in all the talk of the belts, what matters is the outcome of the fight and getting the win. The belts and everything else will stem from that.

Fury is still there in the background, he has not entirely gone away. Has he retired? I don’t know but he’s another heavyweight in a great division and I want to fight the best. That’s what I’ve done throughout my career.

I have a lot of unfinished business in the ring at the age of 32, I still feel young, I still feel there’s a lot left for me to achieve. But I’m not going to make the mistake of looking too far ahead. It’s just one fight, 12 rounds, that’s all that matters right now. The rest can wait.

I say 12 rounds but I like to think I’ll be done before that. I’m going for the knockout.

Straight after the last Usyk fight, I remember saying to my team in the changing room that we’d lost the fight but not the war. I’ve picked myself up and those around me, too. We all believe in a different destiny this time around.

There will be critics but that’s nothing new — I’ve had that my whole career but I know that I fight best after a loss. That defeat sticks in your gut and pushes you to get better and work that much harder.

I’m better for all that past experience but all that matters is what goes on between the ropes on fight night. And there’s no way I’m going back home to London without those belts.

Joshua’s heavyweight rematch against Usyk is on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

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Anthony Joshua column: New trainer has changed my mentality — and Oleksandr Usyk will feel the full force

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