Anthony Joshua on the pads with his new full-time professional coach as he gets ready for his 18th fight in Manchester.
Rob McCracken was appointed as IBF heavyweight champion Joshua’s new full-time pro coach ahead of his title defence against American Eric Molina.
It looks like the two are slipping into the more full-time role with ease so far.
Former head coach Tony Sims is understood to still be working with Joshua in some capacity, but McCracken has now been drafted in as head coach as Joshua gets ready for some of the biggest fights of his career in 2017.
Provided he gets past Molina first up.
McCracken is a relentless task master who Joshua has said in the build-up to the Molina fight has no problem providing the champion with consistent, constructive criticism to improve him as a fighter.
This is typically the trait of a solid coach – fighter relationship where no matter how big a fighter’s star or ‘celebrity’ gets, his trainer always keeps his eye on the ball for what is next to come.
Here is some footage of Anthony Joshua on the pads this week by our own writer James Sullivan (hat tip and credit):
Some sharp combinations there, without really getting out of second gear. It appears all the hard work has now been done at this point.
The weeks and months of dieting, early morning starts and sacrifice will now come to a head on Saturday night when Joshua defends his IBF title against Molina.
Although he is expected to get the win by the odds makers, history shows that it is never a wise move to look ahead of an opponent.
Particularly in the heavyweight division where one single punch can derail even the brightest of prospects and new stars.
You don’t have to look too far back in British heavyweight boxing history alone to see that.
Not long ago Liverpool’s David Price was been tipped as the next great British heavyweight, until a crafty old American veteran Tony ‘The Tiger’ Thompson dashed those hopes.
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