Nigerian-born British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has revealed that he had to turn back several fighters who wanted to join his training camp as sparring partners, ahead of his rematch with Mexico’s Andy Ruiz Jnr, megasportsaarena.com gathered.
With barely a week now left before the big fight in Saudi Arabia on December 7, ‘AJ’ said he is happy with the way his schedule is going, and profusely apologised to those he had to turn back due to a congested team he already has.
The London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist, whose father hails from Sagamu in Ogun State added that he ignored many of those that wanted to join the preparations for the fight, as his team is loaded to the brim and one of the trainers is doing everything with his whole heart.
He is keeping faith in Rob McCracken, his long-time trainer, but his training camp has also been revamped ahead of next Saturday’s world heavyweight championship rematch, as two pad men, Angel Fernandez and Joby Clayton, as well as a host of new sparring partners, have helped the former three-belt title holder sharpen himself and avenge his June 1st shock loss to Ruiz.
Joshua told Sky Sports News: “It starts as a thought, then a vision, then it comes to reality. A lot of people reached out but it’s the ones who didn’t reach out that are here helping now. I sought after them – they weren’t reaching out to me saying ‘let me help’. I reached out and said: ‘I’ve watched and studied you for a long time and feel like you can help in this capacity’.”
