Anthony Joshua Says Assistant Angel Fernandez Now Assuming Head Training Duties

If Anthony Joshua has truly found the new trainer he has been hinting at for the past several months, he didn’t have to look too far.

The British sporting star and former heavyweight champion casually informed reporters Saturday night in London at the OVO Arena Wembley for the Deji vs. Alex Wassabi YouTuber card that his main trainer at the moment is actually someone who has been a familiar face in his corner in recent years, Angel Fernandez.

The question of whom Joshua would tap as his head coach has been a source of intense speculation ever since Joshua dropped his WBA/WBO, and IBF titles to Ukrainian southpaw Oleksandr Usyk last September in their 12-round heavyweight championship bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

“I’m working with Angel Fernandez right now,” Joshua told Behind the Gloves. “He’s been in my camp for the last three years, anyway. He’s been in the last three world championships.”

Asked if Fernandez was now his “main” trainer, Joshua responded, “Yeah, man.”

Still, it was not entirely clear if Joshua plans to put Fernandez, relatively unknown and young, in charge of his training camp for the expected rematch against Usyk this summer. Joshua visibly struggled against the dextrous Usyk in their first fight. After the loss, Joshua hightailed it to the United States, where he was seen working out with a diverse group of top trainers, including Eddy Reynoso, Robert Garcia, Virgil Hunter, and Ronnie Shields, leading to rumors that a noted American trainer would most likely serve as Joshua’s new trainer.

Fernandez, who hails from Spain, initially came on board as an assistant to longtime Joshua head trainer Rob McCracken shortly after Joshua’s upset loss to Andy Ruiz in June 2019. According to Boxing News, Fernandez was instrumental in preparing Joshua to successfully wrest back his titles from Ruiz in the rematch that took place six months later in Saudi Arabia. Joshua did not say if McCracken would still be involved in some capacity.

One thing is clear: Fernandez, a protege of Cuban trainers Ismael Salas and Jorge Rubio, apparently is the jack of all trades on Team Joshua.

“[Fernandez is the] full time, main [trainer], [handles] video analysis, tactician, pad man, sparring guy, dietician, S&C, cardio, you know what I’m trying to say?” Joshua told Boxing Social.

The 32-year-old Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) triggered his rematch clause with 35-year-old Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) last October. Their highly anticipated rematch, however, may be compromised due to the fact that Usyk is currently back home in Ukraine helping defend his country from its bloody conflict with Russia. Usyk said in a recent interview he is not thinking about boxing at the moment.