Hearn claims Joshua was 'CONFUSED' ahead of his first fight with Usyk

Anthony Joshua felt ‘CONFUSED’ ahead of his first bout against Oleksandr Usyk, claims Eddie Hearn, and says he has had too many ‘voices’ in his corner – as he hints he made a mistake by firing ‘tutor’ Rob McCracken

  • Anthony Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk in the first fight in September 2021 
  • Joshua’s gameplan did not work at all as he was comfortably outpointed
  • Eddie Hearn believes Joshua felt ‘confused’ ahead of the world title fight
  • He believes that Joshua has had too many voices in his corner at times
  • Hearn has also hinted that Joshua should not have fired Rob McCracken 

Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has reportedly claimed the Brit was ‘confused’ heading into his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua was looking to defend his heavyweight belt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when he took on the undefeated Ukrainian in September 2021, and he had Rob McCracken and Angel Fernandez in his corner.

He entered as the favourite, but was comfortably outpointed and his gameplan appeared unclear on the night. Hearn has revealed that Joshua took detailed notes in the build-up to his title defence after receiving advice from McCracken and Fernandez, and this ultimately left him not knowing exactly how he wanted to approach the fight.

Anthony Joshua was comfortably outboxed by Oleksandr Usyk in the first fight in 2021

Eddie Hearn has claimed Joshua was ‘confused’ after receiving so much information from his trainers in the build-up to the fight

‘He went into the first Usyk fight just confused, really,’ Hearn said, as quoted by The Sun.  

‘I remember when he was warming up for the fight and he had a pad of notes that he and the team had put together.

‘He would be hitting the pads and every now and again he would go over and look at the book.’

Joshua reacted to that defeat by getting rid of McCracken, who had guided him to Olympic gold in 2012 and then onto world honours as a professional.

Fernandez stayed on board, with American trainer Robert Garcia brought in to prepare Joshua for the rematch with Usyk.

In their second meeting, Joshua put in a much-improved performance, but still fell short as he lost a split-decision.

He is now looking for a new team ahead of his return to the ring in 2023, and Hearn has admitted that having too many voices in his corner has hindered Joshua.

Hearn has hinted that Joshua made a mistake by getting rid of Rob McCracken, as he was someone the Brit could completely trust

The 43-year-old promoter has also hinted that Joshua may have made a mistake in getting rid of McCracken in the first place after he helped the fighter come through some of the most difficult moments in his career.  

‘The best AJ thinks “I know exactly what I am doing”.  But to do that you need a tutor,’ Hearn continued.

‘That’s why Rob McCracken was so important for him. Remember when he boxed (Wladimir) Klitschko, Rob McCracken was a big part of winning that fight in rounds five and six.

‘As a fighter you have to be able to look into a trainer’s eyes and say “I am in trouble here, tell me what I need to do”.

‘Not go back to your corner and have five or six voices telling you what to do.’




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