Anthony Joshua will change his coaching team for his upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, moving away from long-time trainer Rob McCracken and his usual training base in Sheffield.
The British heavyweight has worked with McCracken since his amateur days, winning Olympic gold and becoming a two-time unified world champion. However, after a unanimous points defeat to Usyk in September, Joshua has been exploring options with other trainers.
Speaking at Expo 2020 in Dubai, Joshua said: "I'm a loyal character. I believe loyalty's important. I've been based in Sheffield and had a good chat with my coach and I want to try some new things, I want to try a new environment. Maybe I can do a training camp in Dubai, maybe I can do a training camp in Africa, in America – just a new environment to get inspired again and to take the heavyweight division by storm."
Joshua outlined his plans for 2022: "Revamping, reorganising, a new environment and staying at the top. Now is probably the time in my career where when I get home I'm going to put in some real work and make some sacrifice. It's all good, everything will make sense in the long run, but as it stands now I'm going for a new environment, to work with some new coaches and just go to war. It's a warrior mindset."
The rematch with Usyk is a key step towards an undisputed title fight. Usyk holds the WBA, WBO and IBF belts, while Tyson Fury is the WBC champion. Fury is set to face either Dillian Whyte or a back-up opponent, which could clear the path for an undisputed clash later this year.
Joshua previously lost his titles to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 but won an immediate rematch to become a two-time champion. He will hope to repeat that feat against Usyk.
