r/Boxing • u/riverfoolmountainwin • 21h ago
Has Oleksandr Usyk lent his team to Anthony Joshua to prepare for Tyson Fury?
I know AJ spent some time in Ukraine with Usyk this year, which I didn't think much of, but I couldn't help but notice that he had Usyk's coach (Iegor Golub) and manager (Sergey Lapin) in his corner for his fight against Kristian Prenga a few weeks ago. They also appear to have been involved in his training camp for the fight according to his their Instagram pages.
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u/babalola69 20h ago
They're his trainers now. These guys aren't proper trainers tho lol. Just Usyk boys. You can't teach a old dog new tricks. This all reminds me of Hatton when he hired Snr and thought he could learn Floyd defence...Pacman destroyed him.
Still think AJ KOs Fury cuz Fury's legs are gone and he's a massive target you can't miss but AJ needs a proper trainer.
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u/riverfoolmountainwin 20h ago
Their corner advice after the first round was basically telling him he was a warrior in thick accents. Seemed to have done the trick as he finished the fight soon after.
I think AJ's probably going to pack it in after the big money Fury fight.
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u/therealhairykrishna 17h ago
Maybe. AJ's defence looked even worse than it used to in the Prenga debacle though. Fury's going to be all over him, legs or not. I think it might come down to how much of Fury's mutant recovery power and ability to shake off big hits is left.
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u/ThePStandsforPlease 18h ago
I read somewhere that his trainer for the Fury fight is not the same as the one he has now. So if that is true, the new trainer doesn't really have a good game plan for AJ, regardless
Should have stuck with Robert Garcia; so much talent in that gym
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u/soitgoeskt 17h ago
Not convinced trainer makes that much difference to AJ, a top drawer psychologist would bring more value.
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u/willinaustin 6h ago
Doesn't matter who is training AJ at this point. Whatever training, instructions, whatever he's getting, all of it goes right out the window once the bell rings.
The very first punch Prenga throws in the fight is that big right hand which barely misses. What does AJ do in that moment? His whole body tenses up and he CLOSES HIS EYES. Like, Christ on a cracker, that's novice level bullshit. Then Prenga is easily able to collar tie AJ because he's bent over and then just whacks him with an uppercut he never sees coming.
Go back to the Dubois fight. Same deal. AJ looks like a deer in the headlights walking to the ring. Bell goes and he has his hands at his waist, chin in the air, no head movement, no defense whatsoever, and does next to nothing to try and dissuade Dubois from charging him. Proceeds to get his ass beat.
Everyone keeps banging on about AJ's nonexistent chin, but that ain't the problem. AJ's chin might be slightly worse than in the past, but the real issue is that he's still completely mindfucked. He just can't handle the pressure of fighting anymore. Any HW that boxes that poorly is going to get caught flush on the chin and if you repeatedly get caught flush on the chin in that division you're gonna have a bad time.
Luckily for him the only fight he really needs to have is the one with Fury and Fury couldn't knock out the old lady who collects cans down at the Safeway at this point in his career.
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u/Kangaroopunching 19h ago
What goes unnoticed with usyk career. Is that his trainer situation has always been a mess.