Nigerian-born world boxing heavyweight champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has revealed the deep-rooted love he has for football, as he has likened his long-time trainer, Rob McCracken to Manchester United legend, Sir Alex Ferguson, megasportsarena.com reports.
However, while situating McCracken on the same level with one of football’s biggest tacticians ever, Joshua added that the need for another set of expert eyes and minds in directing his fight routine led him into hiring additional hands to his coaching crew.
That explains why Joby Clayton and Angel Fernandez were added to the technical staff led by McCracken prior to Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr, and the champ has now disclosed that the move helped him revamp his approach.
With additional hands working with him, ‘AJ’ conceded that he got a lift to his moves and it led to two consecutive wins, first against Ruiz and most recently against Kubrat Pulev, both of which he says was made easier with Clayton and Fernandez.
He added that they have also helped him to a position where a super-fight against World Boxing Council (WBC) champion, Tyson Fury has never been closer; but that has not stopped the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) triple-belt holder from rating McCracken high.
He goes on to declare that McCracken, who was also the Team GB coach when he won the 2012 London Olympic Games cruiserweight gold medal, is on the same status as Manchester United’s legendary manager.
Joshua told Sky Sports: “Rob is a gaffer – I look at him like Sir Alex Ferguson. Great manager, great trainer, great experience. Me and [Sean Murphy] conquered the early stage of the amateurs around England.
“Me and Rob conquered the international stage as amateurs. Then I turned pro and me and Rob conquered the world. Around the Wladimir Klitschko fight everybody said: ‘That was a defining fight, you went down got up, showed true warrior spirit.’
“In my head I was thinking: ‘This is a whole new level’. There was a level of pressure I was dealing with, moving forwards. It’s easy to see what the greats were doing now. Before, you couldn’t see because there wasn’t so much .
“There are so many sources of information now. Me and Rob were conquering the world, just me and him, but I said: ‘We need another set of eyes.’ It was about bringing in a new variety to help me explore different levels of greatness.”
Incidentally, Fury recently questioned why Joshua did not call him out in the aftermath of the knockout victory over Pulev earlier this month, in response to which the two-time three-belt holder, whose father hails from Sagamu in Ogun State, was also defiant in his response.
In reaction to the smacker from Fury, with talks continuing about two huge fights with his British heavyweight rival in 2021, Joshua stressed that he remains determined to put all his belts on the line against ‘The Gypsy King’ in a massive undisputed world title fight next year.
Joshua further told Sky Sports News: “Whether he really wants it or not. I’m keen. I basically said, ‘If Tyson Fury is the man with the belts, Tyson Fury is the man I want.’ That basically says, ‘I’ll fight anyone who has that belt, there’s no problem with the person.’
“I just want to go for the undisputed championship. That’s what I was trying to say that night. He took it how he wanted to take it. I’ve never turned away from a fight. I’ve never announced a fight and not showed up. I’ve fought six to seven champions, in my short career.
“ Tyson Fury is another one of them. There’s no reason as to why I see him any different to any other. If Tyson Fury is down, I’m ready, I’m keen. I’ve got four of the major belts, he’s got one. I’ll take that one from him.”
