By Barry Holbrook: Anthony Joshua’s trainer Robert Garcia says he would have preferred that AJ take two or three fights before facing Tyson Fury.
Garcia feels that December 3rd is too soon for Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) to be coming back after his loss to Oleksandr Usyk on August 20th. Joshua ran out of gas in the championship rounds of that fight and came up short.
Robert says they’ll do their best to train for the fight against WBC heavyweight champion Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) if it happens on December 3rd.
He thinks that Joshua can win with his hand speed and power, but he wants to make sure he works harder in camp so that he doesn’t gas in the championship rounds.
“He’ll [Joshua] go out and train, and we’ll do our best job to go out there and win. The fight won’t be easy, but is it winnable? Yes, we could win that fight,” said Robert Garcia to iD Boxing. “Would I prefer it to happen two or three fights from now? Yes, but it’s a big fight, and it’s a big business.
Joshua made the decision on his own to take the fight with Fury next, as he felt that it might his only chance to face him.
“His management team is very smart when it comes to negotiations and the final decisions,” said Garcia. “I’d rather him take two or three fights before anything huge.
“Anthony took the rematch with Usyk right away when he could have easily taken two or three fights before that,” said Garcia.
“Anthony has great speed and great power. Can he catch him? Of course. I would say train a little bit harder because you need those extra three rounds that you lost at the end of the Usyk fight,” said Garcia when asked what Joshua must do to defeat Fury.
“He has great power and speed. Do I think we need to push him a little bit more? Yes, I do. I think if it [Fury-Joshua] happens, it won’t be December 3rd because it’s not enough time.
“I think to promote the fight; it might be pushing it a little too soon. If it does, we’ll be ready. Anthony is one of those guys who is always in shape. With a good eight-week training camp, it’s more than enough,” said Garcia.
