I actually think AJ should keep him as his trainer, but should get rid of the rest of his trainers. Should get back to Rob and Tony Sins who is close to Rob assisting on fight nights. Easy to say McCracken should give ultimatum, but i seen in 2019 and 2020 he earned nearly £2m each year for coaching AJ.
Maybe he needs to choose between AJ and Team GB? Can’t have been ideal his trainer just going off for a month when preparing for a guy like Usyk.
With all the other stuff AJ does he doesn't need to replace Rob. He needs to remember an important thing, all this media commitments etc that he does has taken away from him what he actually is. A Fighter. He needs to get that back, a fight is a fight and he needs to just fight simple. No new coaches, no new team, in fact he needs to lose some of them. Most importantly he needs to find his appetite for a fight again, if not he should forget it.
I agree, although it would be interesting if Joshua went to the Kronk gym and adopted the style. I reckon his confidence is shot more than anything. He won his best fights on the front foot, gung ho, without any fear of getting hit. Since he got beat off Ruiz Jr he seems scared of being hit. That may be for good reason, as he's not got the strongest chin, but he could walk through some fighters if he went for it. Maybe it wouldnt have worked against Uzyk, maybe it would, but at least we know he's good at that. He's never going to outbox Uzyk, or Fury for that matter.
Spot on. He’s lost the dog in him since getting hit and maybe just isn’t as hungry anymore. He’s a decent enough boxer but used to combine it with letting his hands go, he can’t rely on boxing alone because he’s not good enough. He shouldn’t even think about taking the rematch if he isn’t willing to have a proper go at Usyk.
im the opposite to you guys, i think he needs to ditch McCracken. im not saying McCracken is a bad coach, clearly from his results on the amateur and pro game he's excellent, but in my opinion, he overthinks the opponents for Joshua too much, and adjusts to the opponent as opposed to make the opponent adjust to them. last night i thought he was terrible in the corner, his instructions where far too complicated and negative. He was still giving technical advice mid battle. Lets call a spade a spade, in the heat of the moment, the coaches ability to really change the direction of a fight by his advice is minimal, so why does he insist with focusing on the technical mistakes and not the positives. I may be wrong, but i just think a less complicated approach for Joshua would pay dividends for him.
Stuck between styles since the first Ruiz first. A little hesitant to fully engage and is trying to box more. In the Pulev fight, and last night a few times, he landed well then just backed off. The Ruiz thing had a big mental impact on him. Maybe a move to America would be good for him. Ditch the daft entourage and sponsorship stuff and have just him, a trainer, S&C coach and a nutritionist. Someone like Manny Robles perhaps.
If you watch the Joshua v Dullian Whyte fight in round 2, it was clear Joshua could not take a shot to the head or body. He is always going to struggle against the best opponents with very poor punch resistance. He was blasting through some fighters but these were all Grade A puddings. Rice Pudding Ruiz Jnr took his power and bounced up off the canvas to beat him. Mediocre fighters such as Parker and Takam also took his power. His athletic muscular appearance may make him look more powerful than he actually is when he punches. I have never seen him as an elite fighter based on the opponents he faced and although he is a better boxer than Wilder, I think Wilder would wipe him clean out. Joyce and Bakole would be the type of fight he should take next as both dangerous but fights a genuine World Champion fighter should win. Usyk will also be better in any rematch so he should seriously consider giving this a miss and rebuild.
But AJ can't drop sponsorships and media commitments at the drop of a hat. He's tied in. He's sold his soul years ago. He has to live with all of that and focus on boxing at the same time. It's sad but that's how he's ended up commanding more money when he fights. Because all the big sponsors that roll up to bankroll his fight which comes at the significant cost of his focus on boxing. If you compare him to Tyson who would love the brand endorsement deals that AJ has. Tyson is someone who actually can lock himself away in a gym somewhere unknown with just a trainer. AJ can't ever do that now.
See Lewis v Vitali. After 3 rounds Emmanuel Steward told Lennox forget trying to outjab Vitali, forget trying to outbox him and just make it a fight. The fight changed on the back of those words as Lewis simply went looking to land hard power shots and it paid dividends.
Rob is a good guy and a good trainer to a certain level. However, he is only really in his position because he was lucky enough to have Carl Froch - a hard as nails warrior, who dragged himself to the top of the mountain in all honestly. His instructions last night were bizarre and not what a unified Heavyweight Champion, who is losing in a war against a tremendous technician should be receiving. Joshua and his Team are a mess. You have Rob teaching basic 1-2 boxing and the others trying to get him to work on movement. As a result, he is stuck between styles and he went in to the fight with no logical gameplay. AJ needs to look himself in the mirror, check his bank account etc and ask himself, “do I still really want to do this...” if the answer is yes, than he should leave McCraken and the amateur set up in Sheffield, and quietly go to the states and try out some coaches and see if he clicks with anybody. I actually think Abel Sanchez and his brutal style of boxing/ fitness would be ideal, even if its just a one off to devise a plan to deal with Usyk. I would love to see AJ take himself away from all the spotlight and the 100 yes men and go train in the mountains with Abel and come back ready for a war with Usyk.
Agree with both chrisbonnie and jurgen. Suspect tho joshua is what he is and robs trying his level best to keep his chin and stamina weakness safe in fights by taking the approach that they do. But i think joshua needs to gamble on a new trainer now. Not to say theres anything wrong with rob...just it wont get joshua to where he wants to be. Possibly no one will...but it is time to take that gamble. Need to look outwith the uk imo. Just look at buddy mcgirt last night with smith. We,ve had gallagher for years in the corner...and we seem to come out for the next round without any real concise instruction. Could say the same with rob. Last night mcgirt watched the first round...told smith clearly to go out and get closer before throwing...said he was throwing from too far out. Next round smith goes out and knocks the guy out by throwing from closer. Might not have made any real difference. But it was a good example of just one clear instruction. One thing that needed changed instead of ten things at once. I m not saying buddy as his next trainer but there seems to be more guys in america that have either boxed at a good level or have been taught to coach from the older generation...that have picked up some amazing experience/learning on the way.
If he did change trainer, if it was ever a starter, then Peter Fury would have been the best option imo. But because of Hughie chasing same things and fact Peter would not take a charge in against Tyson it cant really happen. I still think he shouod stay with McCracken. Heard at one point he told soneine 3 x in corner to shut up and in end AJ told them to shut up as Rob does the talking.
I’m not against technical advice mid-battle, for example Ben Davidson in the first Fury / Wilder fight was giving very technical advice all the way through and it worked a treat, but certainly with someone like AJ you can’t force him to overthink when he’s in with Usyk who has everything come naturally for him. After 8 rounds Rob needs to be telling AJ he needs to try and leather him now or he’s losing his belts.
