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Matchroom Sports boss Eddie Hearn minced no words when he mentioned that Anthony Joshua would return big in 2023. Per reports, he is already in talks with Deontay Wilder’s promoter SFX supremo Shelley Finkel over a fight against Anthony Joshua.

On the other corner, Deontay Wilder’s chances of meeting Andy Ruiz Jr. seem a near possibility. The Wilder-Ruiz Jr. fight came about after WBC made it obligatory to decide upon a challenger to reigning champion Tyson Fury. Should it not come around, the prospects of The Bronze Bomber taking on Dillian Whyte or Anthony Joshua increase. But whatever the case be, according to the Essex man, AJ will be in a state of readiness by April. However, in the background, a few voices of concern about the plan outlaid for Joshua are getting louder.

The right step for Anthony Joshua, according to Robert Garcia

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Grandpa Robert Garcia is a former boxer. He used to fight in the Featherweight and Super Featherweight divisions from 1992 to 2001. His professional record stands at thirty-four wins against three losses. But post-retirement, he started taking training assignments.

Until the first Usyk fight, Robert McCracken was the central figurehead in Joshua’s camp. But the two defeats, first at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr. and then Oleksandr Usyk, made the venerable coach’s position untenable.

Read More: ‘I Never Got That Respect’: Anthony Joshua Keeps it ‘100’ With Fans

Head-hunting in The US proved beneficial to AJ as he landed up Robert Garcia’s door. But even he couldn’t prepare the former Olympic gold medalist against The Cat’s brilliant tactics. So post the Jeddah match, Garcia and Joshua decided to part ways.

As news of AJ’s much-anticipated return trickles in, the former tutor wants his pupil to heed valuable advice. Speaking to IZQUIERZO, Grandpa said, “One thing that I told [Joshua’s team], and I would tell them again now, is that I don’t recommend them to look for a big fight [such as Wilder] immediately…He should look for two or three fights a little more adequate, I don’t want to say easy, because there are no easy fights, but he needs a more adequate fight.”

The one to connect first will be the winner

Joshua researched Garcia before hiring him. The Briton traveled to the US and chose Garcia after visiting Ronnie Shields, Virgil Hunter, and Canelo Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso. He invited Garcia to London for a two-week visit. 

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According to Garcia, if Joshua fights Deontay Wilder, then the fight won’t go to a decision due to the sheer strength both boxers wield, “I think that is a fight that wouldn’t go to the scorecards. “Both of them hit hard. Many may think that Wilder is going to knock AJ out, but I think that whoever lands first [will win the fight].”

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