THE former world heavyweight champion appointed Derrick James in February following his two successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua is set to face Jermaine Franklin on April 1 at the 02 Arena.
The 33-year-old was formally trained by ex-professional boxer Robert Garcia, but that partnership only lasted for the second Usyk fight.
AJ parted ways with long-term trainer Rob McCracken after his first defeat to Usyk.
The Watford-born boxer is training with new coach James in Texas ahead of his crunch comeback fight with Jermaine Franklin.
Who is Derrick James and who else does he train?
Derrick James is a 51-year-old American boxing coach.
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He won The Ring magazine’s Trainer of the Year award in 2017.
James made his name in boxing as a coach to American boxers Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo.
Spence Jr is currently a unified welterweight world champion as he holds the IBF title, WBC title and WBA title.
The 33-year-old has had an impressive 28 wins from 28 fights, with just 6 triumphs not resulting in a knockout.
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Elsewhere, Charlo is also a world champion, he has held the WBC middleweight title since 2019.
The 32-year-old has had 32 fights, and 32 wins, with 22 being by way of knockout.
What has Anthony Joshua said about Derrick James?
Joshua has enjoyed his time so far under James but insists he doesn’t want to put any pressure on his new trainer.
The former world heavyweight champion said: “I really do rate Derrick James as a trainer.
“Lastly, I don’t want to put pressure on Derrick and say whatever happens in the future is down to him, good or bad.
“It’s all on me but asides from what he does for me, I just think Derrick as a coach I really do rate him highly.”
When is Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin?
- Joshua’s fight against Franklin will take place on Saturday, April 1.
- The event will be held at London’s O2 Arena.
- The fight will get underway at approximately 10.30pm UK time.
- The main card will begin at 6pm or 7pm GMT.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
