Renowned trainer Dominic Ingle has warned Anthony Joshua that he must cut off ‘hangers on’ in his entourage if he hopes to rebuild his career. Ingle believes axing new trainer Robert Garcia was the wrong decision and that Joshua’s ‘inflated ego’ has clouded his judgement.
The Watford powerhouse is currently on the lookout for a new head coach ahead of his return to the ring in April. AJ was recently pictured out in America getting some work in with top coaches Derrick James and Virgil Hunter after giving Garcia his marching orders.
The former IBF junior lightweight champion was brought into the fold ahead of the Oleksandr Usyk rematch but the pair parted way after only four months of working together. Despite showing marked improvements in his second fight against the Ukrainian, Joshua affirmed that he wants to be a ‘free spirit’ and explore his options – something Ingle believes will come back to bite him.
“Instead of thinking that he is this superstar boxer, because when you get beat, you are no longer that. You have to go back and regroup, not look for an easier way, to try and be where you are,” said Dominic Ingle to Boxing King Media about Joshua’s fall from grace.
“It is a bit disrespectful to Robert Garcia, and he might have a fight with his next trainer, and then go somewhere else but ultimately Anthony Joshua has to cut himself off from all the hangers on, all the rabble.”
Ingle says that he would have cut off the bad fruit around Joshua if he was his head trainer and believes Garcia should have done the same when he was given the reins. “The first thing that Robert Garcia should have done, is kick anybody else out of the camp, who is trying to train Anthony Joshua. I’ve seen it all first-hand it happens with every fighter, look at Mike Tyson, Naseem Hamed… it’s the same old story, there are so many back slappers in boxing, you don’t get a sense of reality, you need to keep your feet on the ground and that’s where he is.”
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He added: “I look at people’s entourages and boxers, who they have around them, and it’s the same with top businessmen and trainers, you’re judged by the company that you keep. There are people around AJ, there are probably people around Tyson Fury which you can look and think ‘why on earth would you entertain those type of people’.
“As a trainer, I will keep those people out of my gym, away from the fighters, I won’t let them have any input, but people will always find their way in. But if you can’t recognise the good people around you and the bad people around then obviously you don’t have a grasp on reality and that’s what I’m saying.”