ANTHONY JOSHUA revealed he left Rob McCracken and the rest of his training team after they failed to say he was losing against Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ was beaten over 12 rounds last September and immediately his corner work came into question.
Anthony Joshua parted company with Rob McCracken after he didn’t receive proper instruction from the corner in his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk
Joshua reacted by splitting with long-time coach McCracken as well as assistant Joby Clayton.
Cornerman Angel Fernandez has remained and will be joined by esteemed US mastermind Robert Garcia for the rematch with Usyk on August 20 in Saudi.
And they will be under strict instructions to give it to AJ straight – even if he is in a losing position.
Joshua said: “There was a lot going on in the corner and that didn’t help. A corner is like a pitstop.
“You’ve got probably 55 seconds in total to calm down, hydrate, simple instructions.
“That’s the way you should do it. Too many voices at once is definitely not good for anybody.
“I was being told things like, ‘Double jab, right, left hook’ it wasn’t like, ‘Take the fight to this f***er, listen you’re losing the fight’.
“A trainer needs to tap into that psychological aspect now because if you can overcome your mind, you can give more.”
Joshua, 32, surprisingly opted to try and outbox Usyk, 35, and never reverted to plan B as the fight raced away from him.
That was because, in AJ’s mind, he believed he was ahead and winning.
Joshua admitted: “I swear I thought I was. I thought I was looking like Muhammad Ali in there.
“I can show you sparring footage where I’m on the ropes leaning back. They tell you to train adversity, right.
“So put your hands down and let a motherf***er throw punches at you and you just sit, sit, sit.
“That’s how you gain confidence. So, in the fight in the 12th, I’m doing this stuff.
“Throughout the fight I thought I was winning but at that stage I kind of knew it was close.
“I thought at that stage I was well in the fight because it didn’t seem like there was any real communication as to where I’m at.
“Like, ‘You’re losing this fight… you’re down by two rounds’. I didn’t get that.
“I’m not blaming anyone by saying that but I didn’t get any impression that I was losing the fight.
“I thought we were well in it. That’s why when they announced the name I was kind of like ‘huh?’
“So, I was jabbing and jabbing. It was hard to accept afterwards.
“Now when I watch it back, I think he won by three rounds, that’s probably from the ninth round onwards.”
Anthony Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk last September
