Anthony Joshua's new trainer is aiming to be 'best coach in the world'
EXCLUSIVE: Frazer Clarke reveals Anthony Joshua’s coach Angel Fernandez plans to become the ‘best coach in the world’, detailing how he ‘bickers’ with fighters and pushes them to improve, stating AJ can defeat Usyk after seeing ‘great work’ between the two
- Anthony Joshua recently appointed Angel Fernandez as his main trainer
- It came after falling to a bitterly disappointing loss to Oleksandr Usyk last year
- Joshua is now preparing for the rematch, the biggest fight of his career to date
- Frazer Clarke, Joshua’s sparring partner and friend, also works with Fernandez
- He told Sportsmail just what it’s like to be trained by the Spaniard
As Anthony Joshua embarked on a US tour, visiting the likes of Eddy Reynoso, Ronnie Shields and Virgil Hunter, few thought it would be prior understudy Angel Fernandez taking the reins from Rob McCracken and given the role of formulating a plan to take down Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was outfoxed by the dazzling Ukrainian who, having relinquished his full collection of cruiserweight titles, put in a performance for the ages as he showcased his largely unparalleled skills in front of a stunned and silenced Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd.
The Briton’s WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight belts were snatched almost without a whimper, with a 6ft 6in Joshua opting against using his evident physical advantages – advantages which brought him so much success while climbing up the ranks – as he looked to outbox the boxer. A naive move, it proved.
Anthony Joshua (R) has made Angel Fernandez (L) his main trainer, as he prepares to take on Oleksandr Usyk in their eagerly-anticipated rematch
The Briton, 32, was defeated by a masterful Usyk on points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
There was immediate clamour for Joshua to part ways with McCracken, as there was in the wake of his first career defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr back in 2019. This time, though, Joshua obliged. But, again, eyebrows were raised when the inexperienced Fernandez was announced as his replacement.
One man more in the know than most, however, is Frazer Clarke, who made his professional debut earlier in the year, having claimed Olympic Bronze last summer. Clarke, a long-term sparring partner and friend of Joshua, is also trained by Fernandez, with the pair working together at Loughborough University.
Clarke, speaking to Sportsmail, insisted Fernandez can play a crucial role in Joshua becoming a three-time world champion when, hopefully, the pair get it on this summer.
‘I’ve known Angel for a little over a year now,’ Clarke explained. ‘Even pre–Olympics I was coming down and doing sessions with him, once or twice a week, just to give me that little something different.
‘I was working with great coaches in Sheffield, but I felt after one session that he’d added something to my game.
‘I needed a change in environment from Sheffield, so coming to Loughborough University was the next best thing for me.
‘I can’t really speak on AJ’s relationship with him, but I see them in the gym and I see chemistry. It’s good work, very good work that I’m seeing.’
Joshua’s long-term sparring partner and friend Frazer Clarke (R) also works with Fernandez
Fernandez now has the unenviable task of preparing Joshua for the biggest fight of his career
It comes after Joshua announced he would be moving away from long-term trainer Rob McCracken (centre)
What jumps out immediately is that Clarke has no ordinary fighter-trainer relationship with the Spaniard, largely as, like Clarke, Fernandez is very much at the early stages of his professional career, still finding his feet after landing a role many could only dream of.
In fact, Fernandez – whose first major role came with Isaac Chamberlain in 2018 – has himself revealed he wants the relationships with his fighters to go beyond a working one, insisting: ‘My job, yes it’s the boxing coach, but I go beyond that, I need to have that connection with them and that has to be getting into a friendship.’
And that’s exactly what Clarke has developed with Fernandez in the weeks and months spent together.
‘My relationship with Angel, it’s a funny one,’ he said. ‘I feel like in every gym, and with every boxer-trainer relationship, there’s different ones: there’s the father and the son, there’s the guy that puts your arm round you.
Clarke reveals he bickers with Fernandez regularly as they push each other to improve
‘The reality with me and Angel is that we bicker a lot, that’s the truth. But we get the work done. When we’re in here it’s business, that’s what it’s all about, but we go back and forth. It’s all good energy, though.
‘When I say bickering, I’m not saying we’re going at each other, I’m talking pushing each other. He pushes me to be a better fighter, I believe me and the other lads in the gym push and encourage him to be the best trainer he can be.
‘That’s what I like about him as a coach: he’s not settling, he’s thriving, he wants to be known as the best coach in the world.’
Perhaps the biggest indicator of Fernandez’s talents is his current crop of fighters, with Richard Riakphore, who’s on the periphery of world level in the cruiserweight division, and highly rated youngster Kieran Molloy joining Joshua and Clarke in his Loughborough stable.
Richard Riakphore (R) and Kieran Molloy (L) complete Fernandez’s Loughborough group of fighters
For Clarke, it’s his coach’s intentions which are most appealing. He’s not, as others are, simply in it for a quick buck.
‘He’s got four great fighters, I believe, who he can showcase that level with: myself, Kieran Molloy, Richard Riakphore and Anthony Joshua,’ Clarke explained. ‘As a trainer, he’s as hungry as the fighters, and you don’t see that often in boxing.
‘You get a lot of old trainers, maybe a couple of people just in for a few quid. Angel wants to be the best at what he does and that’s inspiring as a fighter.’
Of course, Clarke and Joshua are at differing stages of their careers: one, a 1-0 prospect with lofty ambitions, the other a two-time heavyweight champion preparing for the most important fight of his life.
And while Fernandez has the drive, the enthusiasm and clearly a knack for the job, there are some who argue Joshua needs more a more experienced voice in his corner at this stage – particularly as he’s recently claimed, for the first time in his career, he’s working on a game plan specifically tailored to his opponent.
Joshua, speaking recently at Oxford University, revealed he’s working on a game plan for the first time in his career
The former unified champion is looking to avenge the damaging defeat, as he did against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019
Not Clarke, though, who insists the only person who can win Joshua this fight is Joshua himself.
‘I’ll tell you who’s going to get the best out of AJ – it’s AJ,’ he said. ‘He could have Donald Duck in his corner, it’s up to him, he’s doing the fighting.
‘The coach can give you the wisdom, game plans and tell you all the right things – and what I’m seeing from both of them, I think that’s definitely there – but ultimately, the fighter’s the one doing the fighting.
‘I believe AJ has it in him to win, I believe he believes he can win, and I believe his coach believes he can win.
‘That’s the mentality of the gym; there’s no losing fighters in this gym. Anyone with a loser mentality in this gym will soon be booted out.
‘Is Angel the right man? We’ll find out in a couple of weeks, if that fight gets made in July, August or whenever it is. I believe the combination of both is definitely good enough to do this.’
While Joshua was embarking on his US tour, Clarke himself was preparing for an important match-up, as he made his debut on the undercard of Kell Brook’s win over long-term rival Amir Khan in February.
Clarke made his professional debut earlier in the year, defeating Jake Darnell in a round
The 30-year-old is looking to get back out in July or August, having undergone surgery on an injured hand
Clarke demolished a hapless Jake Darnell within the first three minutes to move 1-0, though he now admits the opponent was well off the required standard.
His progression was then halted, though, as he was forced to withdraw from his March 26 bout having gone under the knife after suffering an untimely hand injury.
He now plans to get back out in late July or early August, with ambitions of a British title within his first 10 fights. And when he does return to the ring, Clarke vows to be destructive.
‘We want to get in there, we want to be devastating, we want to be entertaining, we want to show what we’re practicing in this gym,’ he said.
‘In this gym, we work hard, and if we do what we’re doing in the gym we’re going to knock people out – it’s that simple.’
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