ANTHONY JOSHUA has undergone the biggest overhaul of his career for what looks on paper to be his easiest fight for almost a decade.
With all due respect to 29-year-old Jermaine Franklin, our London 2012 Olympic legend should slice through him on Saturday night.
Because 33-year-old Joshua has spent the last eight years obliterating world title contenders and champions like Dillian Whyte, Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin.
It was only when his team took their eye off of the ball and accepted short, talented, life-long boxer Andy Ruiz as a last-minute replacement for giant, talentless, drug cheat Jarrell Miller that the wheels fell off.
Even though he regained his hard-earned WBA, IBF and WBO belts from the Mexican – who wasted his six-month reign eating himself toward morbid obesity – the damage to Team AJ was done.
Team GB mastermind Rob McCracken – who was against the original Ruiz bout right up until fight week in New York – was undermined when unknown coaches Joby Clayton and Angel Fernandez were brought on board for the successful rerun.
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And the shocking cornerwork TV viewers heard during the first defeat to Oleksandr Usyk sparked a shake up, with McCracken exiting, AJ moving his camp from Sheffield to Loughborough and Robert Garcia coming in.
It has since been revealed that Garcia wanted to quit after just one week, over unnamed team members AJ had around the gym not contributing to the work.
And the respected Mexican-American trainer failed to tempt AJ over to California to train away from home and the local distractions.
So it was a surprise how well AJ boxed in the Saudi Arabia rerun last August and a shame the team members around him failed to stop his post-fight meltdown, a point Usyk, former Team GB sparring partner Frazer Clarke and British ring legend Ricky Hatton all made afterwards.
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AJ has since confirmed that the Garcia-Fernandez dream team was always a bit of a nightmare, with neither designated the head trainer.
He said, with admirable honesty: “I think it was difficult for Garcia in that camp because he was working alongside someone and he let them kind of be one of the lead voices.
“Angel Fernandez brought on Garcia, he brought him on as like a main assistant, someone with more experience.
“It was like, speak with Angel, speak with Garcia, speak with Garcia, speak with Angel.”
Fernandez, like McCracken, Clayton and Garcia is now gone.
Dallas-based Derrick James has had full control of this training camp, with just a couple of Joshua’s close friends helping with logistics and camp management.
The sprawling 32-person team that sparked so much debate, after the New York loss to Ruiz, has been slashed down to a handful of essential and almost-constant faces.
Commercial commitments to the blue-chip brands like Range Rover, Under Armour, Lucozade and Hugo Boss have either been reduced or kept more underwraps.
Even training and nutrition has gone more old-school with AJ slashing at wood with an axe and eating the same boring foods like a couple of throwback heavy hitters.
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“I was just doing some research on boxing and I came across Earnie Shavers,” Joshua told talkSPORT.
“Maybe other fighters did it back in the day, but Earnie Shavers is known as one of the strongest punchers out there.
“He just said he used to chop wood, that was their form of strength and conditioning.
“I have been focusing more on old-school methods.”
When DAZN asked the 6ft 6in 17st powerhouse how his diet changes from the calorie-desperate days of camp to the final week of preparation, he credited an even older inspiration and undefeated 1950s world champion.
“It’s the Rocky Marciano diet,” he grinned.
“What he did was, in the week of the fight, he would have the same meals every day.
“That way your digestive system gets used to it, your stomach is not trying to break down different foods, your body gets used to what you’re eating on a daily basis.
“So it’s the same breakfast, same lunch and same dinner.”
Anthony Joshua’s legacy as a British boxing legend is secured.
The Olympic and world title wins changed the face of the sport and generations of fighters down the ages will continue to credit him.
Lawrence Okolie was still working in McDonalds when he watched AJ win gold on the last day of the London Games, last Saturday he defended his WBO cruiserweight world title for the third time.
In this third reincarnation of Brand AJ, after rebuilds from the Ruiz and Usyk defeats, it remains to be seen what he is really searching for.
He is too generous and charitable to really be doing it just for money, like he claimed at the announcement press conference.
He has repeated this week that boxing is a young man’s sport and a defeat on Saturday could even prove to be his last fight.
It feels like, after the frustrating defeats to Usyk – a smaller and older man who has almost 15 years more boxing experience than Joshua – he still wants to go out on a high.
Texan aggression-mentor James will hopefully reinstall his killer instinct, but who knows of that will result in that elusive Battle of Britain clash with Tyson Fury actually taking place.
Maybe the former fighters and pundits who once purred over Joshua and have hurt him with their recent 180 degree turns will rekindle their love and respect for him if he shines again at the weekend.
Whatever Joshua is looking for over in cowboy country and in old videos of black-and-white icons, every British boxing fan should hope he finds it.
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Because – even without those career-defining fights against Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fur… yet – the former bricklayer, who didn’t even pick up a pair of gloves until he turned 18, has given so much.
And hopefully there are still some huge nights, fights and surprises to come.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
