ANTHONY JOSHUA has confirmed that he has promoted Angel Fernandez to head trainer as he strives to regain his world titles from Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ lost the belts to the Ukrainian, who is now back in his homeland fighting against the Russian invasion, back in September.
Following that loss, the second of his career, the British hero was slammed for his approach to the fight and then began to look for a new trainer to work with his longtime coach Rob McCracken.
Now he has announced that his assistant coach has been moved up the ranks in a change to his set-up.
Joshua told Behind The Gloves: “I’m working with Angel Fernandez right now. He’s been in my camp for the last three years anyway.”
When asked if Fernandez would be his main trainer, AJ replied: “Yeah, man.”
It comes after his Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that he felt it was time for Joshua to ‘move on’ from McCracken’s Sheffield HQ.
He said: “I feel it might be time to move on from that environment because when you’ve been there since you were 18 and you go into GB and Anthony Joshua is everywhere, he’s a god.
“I just feel it’s time to rough him up a little bit, not in log cabins in the middle of nowhere.
“But up there it’s ‘oh my God, it’s AJ!’ because they’re proud of him. Rob is not necessarily gone.
“That’s a conversation for those guys and it’s very difficult because is more than just a trainer, he’s a mentor to him, an advisor, a friend. It’s not just about who’s training him, it’s about where that’s going to take place.”
Joshua’s rematch, believed to be set for April, is now in doubt after Usyk joined the battle against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.