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Usyk vs Joshua 2 August 20th
- Thread starter MMALOPEZ
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You are a brave man. I avoid the War Room at all cost now. Some sick people in there.
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Some more details from AJ below. Robert Garcia and Angel Fernandez will be working together. They've done so in the past. Interestingly enough there is no formal hierarchy here that the two will fall into. How will that work? I don't know. You'd think Garcia would be assigned the role of head trainer and Fernandez would take a backseat as an assistant trainer. It's a strange setup but AJ believes Garcia is an invaluable addition to his team. A trainer switch this late in the game and possibly having too many voices in his ear could prove to be detrimental to AJ. We'll see on the night.
“In a recent interview, an enthused Joshua noted that Garcia was already in London working with him. Joshua made it clear that Garcia would be focused on fine-tuning certain things as opposed to making wholesale stylistic changes.
“Garcia’s right here now,” Joshua said in a brief interview with IFL TV. “We’re just working on a few things. It’s not about changing style as such, in my opinion. Garcia’s style might be crouch down and bob and weave, but I’m a six-foot-six heavyweight. It’s not about changing style, it’s about his experience and what he knows at the championship level, etc. Adding that to the camp is priceless in my opinion.”
Anthony Joshua Pumped Over Addition of Robert Garcia For Usyk Rematch
“In a recent interview, an enthused Joshua noted that Garcia was already in London working with him. Joshua made it clear that Garcia would be focused on fine-tuning certain things as opposed to making wholesale stylistic changes.
“Garcia’s right here now,” Joshua said in a brief interview with IFL TV. “We’re just working on a few things. It’s not about changing style as such, in my opinion. Garcia’s style might be crouch down and bob and weave, but I’m a six-foot-six heavyweight. It’s not about changing style, it’s about his experience and what he knows at the championship level, etc. Adding that to the camp is priceless in my opinion.”
Anthony Joshua Pumped Over Addition of Robert Garcia For Usyk Rematch
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Very interesting. I like Robert Garcia. Don't know if I like him for AJ though. Hmmmmm.
For sure agree with AJ making wholesale changes though.
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I like him, too. Robert is very knowledgeable. That said I agree that he may not be the best fit for AJ here. I don't know of any heavyweights that Robert has worked with in the past. I'd have to look it up. He's mostly trained much smaller guys. It'll be interesting to see what if anything he can bring to the table. What AJ needs to sort out is this identity crisis of his. It's mental. Back before he took a confidence hit he was much more willing to take risks and that's exactly what he'll need to do this time around against Usyk.
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Yeah to me he didn't look good in the Ruiz vengeance. Sure he won easy. But Ruiz was in horrific shape & AJ still looked unwilling to engage. I think he has been having an identity crisis since.
I thought AJ's key to beat Usyk was to bring a real Large Heavyweight fight to him. Not try to out little guy Usyk. So I dont know if having a trainer that is known for little guys is going to be in his benefit. Its a bold strategy.
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I agree. AJ beat Ruiz easily in the rematch but he wasn't confident in there. The way he reacts when he gets tagged is still a concern. Even in the Usyk fight it showed and he's not a puncher (though his punches are sharp). I just checked BoxRec for Robert Garcia and yeah I don't see any heavyweights listed that he's trained. Here's the list.
Fighters Trained
- Jesús Marcelo Andrés Cuellar
- Nonito Donaire
- Thomas Dulorme
- Javier Garcia (Nephew)
- Miguel Angel Garcia (his younger brother)
- Evgeny Gradovich
- Joan Guzman
- Josesito Lopez
- Steve Luevano
- Marcos Maidana
- Abner Mares
- Antonio Margarito
- Jackson Marinez
- Vergil Ortiz
- Kelly Pavlik
- Jose Carlos Ramirez
- Brandon Rios
- Brian Viloria
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Ha ha too true. We're all friends now
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Usyk training for the AJ rematch. These photos were posted 1 week ago to his Instagram page. Looks like he's already put on a fair bit of mass compared to what he looked like before. Recent reports are now saying that the fight's new targeted date will be August 20th in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Super Dome. That will give both fighters a little more time to prepare. I'm good with that.
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A month more for AJ to work with Garcia is ideal. However, Garcia's already been in England since December. He briefly flew back to the States in March or April and then traveled back again. He's been there training AJ all the while. He and Angel Fernandez just did an interview in London the other day so that's how I know all of this.
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A couple new pics that Usyk put up on IG. He's looking bulkier than I expected given that he reportedly just lost 22 pounds fairly recently. He came in at 221 pounds in his last fight. I think he'll weigh about the same for the rematch. Probably no more than 225 tops if he does decide to come in heavier.
I think AJ is too celebrity and can only truly get motivated coming off a loss now.
It's much easier having to redeem yourself or chase something than maintain a high level, I'm not sure he has the right personality or mentality to defend belts against peers
It's much easier having to redeem yourself or chase something than maintain a high level, I'm not sure he has the right personality or mentality to defend belts against peers
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A couple new pics that Usyk put up on IG. He's looking bulkier than I expected given that he reportedly just lost 22 pounds fairly recently. He came in at 221 pounds in his last fight. I think he'll weigh about the same for the rematch. Probably no more than 225 tops if he does decide to come in heavier.
He looks hooge and much more filled in now as a HW. AJ is getting sparked this time.
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AJ is in incapable of making wholesale changes IMO - he’s just not skilled enough.
He can try and box Usyk and have it’ll be a rerun of the first fight, or he can go back to what he was good at and try and get into a firefight.
What else can he possibly do?
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I don't agree with that, but I'm not sure he can adjust enough for Usyk. I mean, the guy got splattered by Ruiz and then pretty much won every round of the rematch.
What Joshua needs to do is avoid getting caught early. I think he got hurt with the very first punch Usyk threw and then was hesitant to take any risks later on. I also thought he showed a little versatility in the first one, he boxed pretty well for a few rounds there against Usyk, almost seemed to be turning the tide around the mid point.
Joshua is almost like a HW Amir Khan, in my view. He's got skills and some physical talents but doesn't take a shot well and doesn't recover well either.
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I guess we will see. I think his only path to victory is to stand toe to toe and bang & turn it into a slugfest. Usyk does oblige to that at times. However, its pretty apparent AJ doesn't trust his chin.
