Derrick James insisted he and Anthony Joshua established a “foundation” they can build on for future fights during the course of their preparations for and Joshua’s victory over Jermaine Franklin.
Joshua, 33, recruited James to be his new trainer despite having impressed in his unsuccessful rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, for which Robert Garcia had been drafted in.
Garcia had been identified by Joshua after he spent time in the US undergoing trials with numerous other trainers – Ronnie Shields and Virgil Hunter were among those who had been recommended – having decided to move on from the long-serving Rob McCracken after Usyk had inflicted his second ever defeat.
In his first fight under James, a disappointing unanimous decision victory over Franklin, Joshua appeared as hesitant and uncertain as he had under McCracken against Usyk having fought with greater conviction against the Ukrainian the second time around. James regardless insisted that Joshua had applied his tactics and showed improvement – and therefore that there could yet be more to come.
“He did a good job,” James, also the trainer of the Charlos and Errol Spence, said when assessing Joshua’s performance against Franklin. “He followed the game plan.
“It was so much about getting past this guy, and winning. Knockouts, yeah, they’re good, but winning with the strategy and game plan that led into the fight – that’s what it’s all about, and that’s what he did.
“He was able to control every aspect of the fight, and that’s our foundation, so we all go back and look at the foundation. Now we have nothing to do but get better and better and better. That’s all I care about.”
Joshua had relocated to Dallas to work under his new trainer and spoken of the benefits of being away from the distractions that exist in his home city of London.
His promoter, Eddie Hearn, has also since spoken of his desire to match him with Dillian Whyte instead of Tyson Fury, so that the understanding between Joshua and James can be given further time to evolve.
