Anthony Joshua set to announce his new trainer and next fight
Former two-time unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KO) is reportedly set to announce his new trainer as Derrick James and his next fight on April 1.
Promoter Eddie Hearn also stated that AJ's next bout will be held at the O2 Arena in London.
Now 50, Derrick James is from Texas, America, and is mostly known for his work with Jermell Charlo and Errol Spence Jr. He was awarded Trainer of the Year 2017 by The Ring Magazine, which was the year his welterweight Errol Spence Jr. became IBF World champion by knocking out Kell Brook in Sheffield. The WBC voted him Trainer of the Year 2020.
A former pro himself, he boxed between 1992-2008, amassing a record of 21 wins, 7 defeats and 1 draw, with 12 knockouts, fighting at middle, super-middle and light-heavyweight. He challenged on three occasons for national titles, such as the NABF, but failed to win. He mostly competed in his hometown of Dallas.
The Brit has been seen training at the Texan's gym several times over the past few months.
AJ, 33 from Watford, had recruited another American coach for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, but were unable to get the win together, despite making the contest much closer than the first fight. The Olympic gold medallist confirmed he would wotk with Garcia again, but aims to be a 'free spirit' for the foreseeable, "Will I work with him again? Yeah I would," AJ said. "But what I've said to Robert and the team is that I want to be a free spirit. You know, I locked myself down for 11 years with one coach, and now I just feel like I want to learn as much as possible.
"So I feel I'm in a position to where I'm able to work with anyone."
Joshua also spent time in Amir Khan's former coach Virgil Hunter's gym as he travelled around America, but now he looks set to announce his team-up with James, as he looks to get back to winning ways after suffering three defeats in his last five fights.
The following opponents are leading the runnings to fight Joshua next:
Demsey McKean
Currently in the UK training with Joshua's former coach, Tony Sims, Demsey 'The Tower' McKean (22-0, 14KO) is an unbeaten southpaw from Queensland, Australia.
An unbeaten opponent will look impressive and brave if Joshua signs up for this fight next, plus it would make for a great story with his old coach in the opposing corner. From the Matchroom Gym in Brentwood, where Conor Benn trains, Sims guided Joshua from his pro debut for three years taking him up to 17-0 before he rejoined his amater coach Rob McCracken. Sims and AJ won four belts together, including the IBF World heavyweight title.
Otto Wallin
Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin (24-1, 14KO) is well known to UK and U.S. fight fans after giving Tyson Fury a big scare during their 2019 fight that saw 'The Gypsy King' badly cut early in the contest by a punch. Fury was allowed to fight on despite the wound requiring 47 stitches later.
Wallin has fought Joshua twice in the amateurs, losing both times, and they have sparred many rounds together, so they have first-hand knowledge of each other, which should always make for a more competitive clash. Plus, the two prior defeats will encourage the Swede to get revenge over his old foe.
If this fight gets made, then Joshua will be incentivised to do a far better job than Fury did, so fans will draw comparisons in his favour. However, the rough and ready Wallin is a very risky fight for anoyone to take, so he most likely will be avoided, despite there being so much talk for so long about this fight being made.
Gerald Washington
Trainer Malik Scott went on record this week to say his heavyweight charge Gerald Washington (20-5-1, 13KO) is one of the leading names to face Joshua next.
The former world title contender, known as 'El Gallo Negro', will be an easier opponent than McKean and Wallin, having lost three from his last four fights, but it might not excite the fight fans too much now that the Californian is over 40-years-old.
However, if Joshua could do a better job than Deontay Wilder (WON-TKO5) or Jarrell Miller (WON-RTD8) did against him, then it see his stock rise back up again.
Did you know?
Despite running his own gym, hard-working Derrick James still works at Cooper Fitness Center in Dallas as a boxing instructor and is a personal trainer to billionaire businessman Ross Perot Jr., who owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team.
Things you didn’t know about Anthony Joshua
