ANTHONY JOSHUA has not relocated to Texas for “coffees or bulls***” as he looks to rebuild his career away from home.
AJ has linked up with trainer of the year contender Derrick James in Dallas ahead of his April 1 return fight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said superstar Joshua could benefit from the comforts of being able to go to the cinema or cafe without being hounded.
But AJ admitted he has only seen the four gym walls after moving Stateside to complete his training camp.
He said: “I haven’t seen anything. I’m not there for anything else. I’m a serious person, I’m not there for anything else really.
“But one thing is for sure, throughout my career, this is probably the most serious time I’ve taken it.
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“In terms of my food, my sleep, the way I’m training, I study the game and everything I’ve learnt – me and Jermaine could chop it up and talk boxing for hours.
“Everything I’ve learnt about boxing, I’m always putting it into another camp, so everything I’ve been through – positive and negative – I’m using it to fuel this camp here.
“So I’m not really there to go out for coffees and talk about bulls***, I’m there to f****** work and put my head down and get ready for a fight.”
Joshua, 33, is coming off consecutive losses to pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk, 36, most recently in Saudi Arabia in August.
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But he marks his return back at the O2 Arena – for the first time in seven years – against Franklin.
The American, 29, was beaten in a disputed decision by Dillian Whyte, 34, in November which AJ was ringside for.
And Joshua insisted he is coming back with a passion for the sport.
He said: “Going to the gym for a fighter is just a normal every day thing. So many fighters go to the gym every day.
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“But there’s a difference when you put your heart into it and I’ve had to get rid of a lot of distractions and things in my life so I can put my heart back into the game.
“Because I always built businesses outside of boxing because of the fear of going back to square one, so I always try to build an empire so when it’s all said and done, I will never be able to look back and say I made stupid decisions.
“But I made a conscious decision last year to step back and just put my heart back into boxing and nothing else.
“So I’ve definitely got that fire back going again.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
