“If You [Have] Nothing but Yes Men Around You, Then You’re Fake”: Former Trainer Remains Brutally Honest to Anthony Joshua Following Boxer’s Statement

Anthony Joshua recently won his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin. Joshua knew after his consecutive losses against Oleksandr Usyk that he needs to switch up his training regimen. During the Usyk fight, he was still training under his beloved coach, Angel Fernandez and that’s when he met with Robert Garcia and worked with him to prepare for the Usyk fight. When he lost again, he decided to move his training to Dallas, Texas, USA under the trainer, Derrick James. But after the fight, Robert Garcia expressed his opinions on Joshua’s loss. This loss affected ‘AJ’ so much that he made a losing speech in the ring, exactly after the second Usyk fight.

The speech was not considered appropriate behavior by a lot of boxing fans, and Joshua’s coach at the time joined the fans and criticized the boxer for his behavior. When ‘AJ’ got to know about his statements, he expressed disappointment over Garcia’s comments and did not expect him to say something like that about him, as he thought they spent a good time working together.

Robert Garcia’s response to Anthony Joshua

Following the second Usyk fight, Robert Garcia talked to the Spanish media outlet, IZQUIERDAZO, where he stated how Anthony Joshua was defeated mentally in the 10th round of the fight. He also stated that in the last days leading up to the fight, Joshua found himself mentally defeated, and it showed in the fight. Joshua was shocked after listening to Robert Garcia, as he even stated in one of his interviews. He said, “I just felt like, Garcia kind of said a lot, which baffled me as well.”

Robert Garcia in his interview with iD Boxing responded to Joshua’s criticism, saying, “You know what? It sucks that he feels that way because if he wants a true answer, I think the trainer is the one that needs to tell him.”

Garcia further said, “But the trainer has to be real to him. If the trainer’s also a yes man, then you and then the trainer is not real person. Then you’re fake if you [have] nothing but yes men around you then you’re fake.”

Robert Garcia certainly doesn’t think he did anything wrong, and still feels the same about what he said. But he feels sad that his relationship ended on a bad note as he still cares about ‘AJ’ and wants the best for him.

Robert Garcia still believes that AJ “lost control of his mind”

Garcia stated that he cannot be one of those trainers who can just get paid and not really care about their fighters. Instead, he enunciated that he will always say what he truly feels about something, and he would not be a ‘yes man’, as a trainer needs to be real with his fighters.

He said, “I’m going to say that if I feel that, you know, I think it was after the fight, you know, he totally lost control of his mind. You know he’s, you know, the way he acted was not right. And I’m not the only one saying it, everybody was saying that.”

Read More: “He’d Have Knocked Both” Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin on the Same Night: Frank Warren Makes Bold Statement About This Rising Prospect

The dispute between Anthony Joshua and Robert Garcia doesn’t seem to resolve anytime soon. There isn’t anything hostile about it, but both individuals have their reasons to face in a different direction than each other. What are your thoughts about this whole incident? Let us know in the comments section below.

Watch This Story: 5 Best Accomplishments of Anthony Joshua’s Amateur Boxing Career