Coach defends Joshua: 'That was my plan'

Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) after a victorious fight with Jermain Franklin was criticized by many fans and boxing analysts for being too conservative, in their opinion, style. AJ's new coach, Derrick James, came to his defense.

“I was pleased because he did exactly what I expected from him,” the American coach said in an interview with DAZN. “People say they would like to see this or that, but this was not part of our plans.”

“People talked about 'old AJ', but his tactics and movements were calculated to offset Franklin's strengths. He’s tough and always goes all the way, but we didn’t let him fight like that,” James explained. - If someone wants to criticize Anthony, criticize me, because it was my plan, I was the one who developed the strategy. He just did what I asked him to. So you can be angry with me, he was just following my orders.”