Rydell Booker doesn't believe Roy Jones Jnr is right for Anthony Joshua
Jake Paul's current sparring partner Rydell Booker spoke to Betway about sparring with Anthony Joshua, helping him improve, and how he can benefit from the same ‘system’ that made Tyson Fury and Lennox Lewis world champions.
From Detroit, 41-year-old 'Rock 'n' Rye' Booker was once the number one ranked amateur Heavyweight in the United States. As a pro, he went on to win three regional titles and the WBC World Youth at cruiserweight. He reached a world title eliminator, but was outpointed by James Toney in 2004. After that defeat, he had 14 years away from the ring but has since returned to fight 10 times between 2018-2022, his last fight coming in May this year against Otto Wallin.
Here's what he had to say about AJ, Usyk-Fury, and Jake Paul's career:
Roy Jones Jnr is the wrong trainer for Anthony Joshua
"Joshua is allegedly going to work with Roy Jones. I don't see how that is going to work out. I don't think Roy Jones is a good trainer or teacher. He just had natural abilities other people did not have. It's very rare that someone can teach boxing. I'm not saying I know everything, but I was taught by one of the best of all time, Emanuel Steward.
"His system worked for everyone; Lennox Lewis, Oscar De la Hoya, Tommy Hearns and it worked for Tyson Fury too. You see Sugar Hill with Tyson Fury and Ben Whitaker over there, putting the Kronk style in the UK fighters.
"The Kronk style would be beneficial for Joshua because Joshua is big, long and strong. The method that Emanuel taught would work well for those types of builds and I know it would work well for Anthony Joshua."
I’ve reached out to help team AJ
"I talked to KD, Joshua’s assistant and said 'give me one chance to work with him'. I want to help him out with some things. When I was over in camp I showed something that he was getting frustrated about and then he made the adjustments correctly.
"When we were sparring over in camp he was getting frustrated that he got hit with a couple of uppercuts he should not have got hit with. His coach at the time, Rob McCracken, gave him an instruction, and then I hit him a couple more times – and then I told him 'bro, you got to turn and put your shoulder here’. He was amazed that I was able to help him because he didn't get hit with those punches anymore. I wish I had the chance to work with him and give him some pointers."
Oleksandr Usyk would beat Tyson Fury – he would outwit him and use Fury’s strengths against him
"Tyson's a very good boxer. He is kind of a different freak of nature. Fury may not believe in Usyk that much but Usyk's IQ level is tremendously good. I would lean towards Usyk. I know he's the smaller fighter and Tyson Fury's going to use his weight and reach advantage, but Usyk can step up to another level that people don't see. He can use lateral movement, in and out, make Tyson Fury move his legs more than he wants to. He can use angles, he can use Fury's size against him and when Fury's coming to him he can step around him. I know Usyk and it may be biased but I think Usyk will beat him. Styles makes fights, Usyk throws a lot of punches in bunches and he showed that he's got a good strong chin, so it'd be a good fight."
Jake Paul will break into the top ten in the world – he's an amazingly quick learner
"BJ Flores is a friend of mine and he's Jake Paul's trainer. He called me and I went down. I was sparring him and giving him pointers and one thing led to another and he liked it.
"After working with Jake ahead of the Silva fight I may now be in line to become Jake's in-house sparring partner. Not just getting Jake ready for a fight, but helping him all year round. Teaching him little tricks that coaches don't teach, stuff you only learn from experience.
"Jake’s a very quick learner and he's surprised a lot of boxers. When I sparred with him on Tuesday, the things I did to him on Tuesday I could not do to him on Thursday. He's a very quick learner, he works very hard and he's passionate about it even though he doesn't need money from boxing, he’s already wealthy. Jake’s a student of the game, a fast learner and he wants it – he's got the grit.
"I'm quite sure he will break into the top ten in the world. At least 8 or 7, but he's setting his own destination and he's got the right team around him and even with me coming along I can teach him the craftyness they don’t teach anymore from the 80s and 90s."
