Mayweather and Joshua have been close friends for a number of years, and the former multiple-weight world champion has made good on his promise to work with the Brit ahead of his rematch with Usyk.
Anthony Joshua trained under the watchful eye of legendary fighter Floyd Mayweather in Dubai today.
The two-time unified world heavyweight champion will face Oleksandr Usyk in an effort to reclaim the belts early next year, and has been working in Dubai in the lead-up to the fight.
And he was joined today by boxing icon Mayweather at Binous Gym, where he has been working with a new trainer amid rumours of a split with head coach Rob McCracken.
Joshua posted a short video to his Instagram story this morning showing him hitting a heavy bag, with Mayweather watching on, with a caption praising Mayweather for getting involved in his camp.
“The best to do it and always helping the next generation,” Joshua wrote of Mayweather. “Big respect, champ.”
Mayweather had previously promised to help Joshua should he ask for it, and appears to have made good on his promise.
The former pound-for-pound great, who went 50-0 in his professional career before hanging up the gloves in 2017, said he wanted to teach Joshua some “pointers”, particularly related to his defensive skills.
Mayweather was famously one of the sport’s all-time great defensive fighters, and was never even dropped in his 50 professional fights.
“I told him from the beginning, I came on the record from the beginning, I told him to come and I could teach him some pointers,” Mayweather said earlier this month of Joshua.
“A lot of the time, this is just my take, the same coach you had as an amateur doesn’t always make you a great professional.
“Some guys are great at amateur coaching and some guys are great at professional coaching, and even my dad was the best at professional.
“At the amateurs, he was teaching me like a professional, so I’m going to always speak real whether people like it or not.
“I feel like Anthony Joshua, they’re going to different coaches and saying ‘this coach is going to work with him’.
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“But I told him at the beginning when he was undefeated ‘you’ve got some things you need to tweak because if you don’t then you may come up short’.”
Joshua will need a much-improved performance when he does step back into the ring with the Ukrainian next year.
No date has been set yet for the rematch, but it is expected to take place in the United Kingdom around the end of April.
He has been testing out the waters with new coaches, but has yet to officially confirm if he will be leaving his Sheffield base, where he works with McCracken.
The Brit met with a number of top trainers during a recent trip to America and has been working with Anthony Wilson while in the Middle East.
Joining him at the gym in Dubai have been Chris Eubank Jr, who fights Liam Williams in Cardiff next month and cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie.
Mirror UK
