Floyd Mayweather Jr Offers to Train Anthony Joshua for Oleksandr Usyk Rematch!
It’s yet another crucial time in the career of former unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (24-2, 22KOs). Back in September he was thoroughly dominated and outclassed by former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KOs) to lose his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles. The loss to Usyk was his second loss in two years. The first was a major upset in June in 2019 when he was knocked out by Andy Ruiz in seven rounds.
RELATED: Anthony Joshua On New Trainer: “I Need To Get Out Of My Comfort Zone”
In the aftermath of his defeat to Usyk, Joshua boarded a plane and made his way to the US in search of a new trainer. He met with Ronnie Shields, Eddy Reynoso, and Robert Garcia, among others. A decision has yet to be made by Joshua on who he’ll bring in to his team as he attempts to reclaim his heavyweight titles. However, a familiar name in the sport has offered his services. Former five-division world champion and Hall of Famer Floyd “Money” Mayweather has extended an offer to train the former champion.
Joshua and Mayweather are familiar with each other as both men have visited one another over the years. Mayweather feels that a change for Joshua could pay huge dividends, as he said the following:
“I told him from the beginning, I told him to come and I could teach him some pointers. A lot of the time,…the same coach you had as an amateur doesn’t always make you a great professional.
Some guys are great at amateur coaching and some guys are great at professional coaching…I feel like my dad was the best as a professional. At the amateurs he was teaching me like a professional. So I’m going to always speak real whether somebody like it or not.
[On Anthony Joshua]…They keep going to different coaches and saying, this coach is going to work with him’. I told him in the beginning when he was undefeated, ‘you’ve got some things you still got to tweak because if you don’t, you may come up short’.”
A Mayweather-Joshua duo could be interesting. Joshua is at a crossroads in his career and bringing in a guy as decorated as Mayweather couldn’t hurt. Known for his tremendous defense and footwork, something that Joshua lacks, Mayweather has tools that could be very beneficial moving forward. Especially against Usyk who has tremendous footwork, which he displayed in the first Joshua fight.
3kingsboxing.com will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
