Anthony Joshua started increasingly getting embedded in the United States boxing culture shortly after losing to Oleksandr Usyk during their first encounter in 2021.

Coached by longtime trainer Rob McCracken at the time, the British boxer Joshua engaged in a US tour and had training sessions with Robert Garcia, Eddy Reynoso, Ronnie Shields, and Virgil Hunter, among others.

Joshua ultimately settled on the Southern California-based Garcia in 2022, had one fight together – the rematch loss to Usyk – before splitting from Garcia. 

Earlier this year, Joshua handed the coaching keys of his career to reigning trainer of the year Derrick James and started holding camp in Dallas, Texas. 

All of a sudden, Joshua was surrounded by the sport’s top stars in newfound stablemates Errol Spence Jr., Jermell Charlo, Ryan Garcia, and Frank Martin. 

Ahead of his fight Saturday night against Robert Helanius (32-4, 21 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) shared his personal experience between the boxing cultures in the United Kingdom and the United States. 

“Honestly, only from my experience, I'm not going to speak on the whole of UK boxing before so they start attacking me, I just believe the work rate,” Joshua said in an interview with krikya360.com and a handful of other reporters. 

“I believe American fighters, like Mexico ... have amazing fighters. A lineage. History ... America has just so much more amazing history ... they work a little harder [in America]. A lot of Americans come over to the UK, it's a shame they beat British fighters. When I became champion ... I wanted to showcase that we need to put some respect on the UK side. That was my ethos. Americans are so well respected, we need to build our own respect on our own soil [in the UK]. But now I'm out there [in the US], I can see why they get the respect. The top fighters, it's not by luck, they put in work. 

“Being in America, I've now been able to work alongside [some of the great fighters in the US] – that environment, that gym, they push you hard. I learned that I don't work hard enough. I had to step up my game for the second camp [with James].”

The former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua had his first fight with James in April, a unanimous decision win against American Jermaine Franklin. 

The 33-year-old Joshua said he’s feeling a lot more comfortable with James heading into the Helanius fight. 

“A lot of coaches have their philosophies, but I've got my philosophies as well. When I've changed coaches, I learned to solidify my philosophies and become more free. You're always thinking about what the coach is saying,” said Joshua. 

“It's been really good with the second training camp with Derrick because he's been more comfortable with me doing certain things than in our first camp when he was saying, 'Man, don't do all that sh!t. Stick to what I'm telling you.' Now I do certain things and I notice him saying, 'Yeah I like that.' That's the bond we've created.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.