Anthony Joshua’s coach Robert Garcia explains what heavyweight must do next after second Oleksandr Usyk loss

Garcia joined Joshua’s coaching team late last year and worked with the Briton in the build-up to this month’s rematch defeat by Oleksandr Usyk

Robert Garcia has outlined what Anthony Joshua must do if the two are to forge a productive relationship going forward.

Garcia joined Joshua’s coaching team late last year and worked with the Briton in the build-up to this month’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, though news of Garcia’s involvement in the camp only emerged this spring.

American Garcia was unable to help guide Joshua to a victory over Usyk, who outpointed the 32-year-old for the second time in 11 months to retain the heavtweight titles that he took from “AJ” last September.

“I told Anthony and his team that the best way to keep working together is if he comes to train in my gym in California eight weeks before a fight,” Garcia said in an interview with Izquierdazo. “About six to eight weeks is all I need for a good camp.

“I told Anthony: ‘I need you to be around more fighters, more champions.’ I want you to have more fighters to compete with. You have to want to be better than everyone, they want to be better than you; it will serve everyone.”

Garcia said he shared the message with Joshua’s team, too.

“They said: ‘We have to convince him, because it’s the best thing for Anthony,” Garcia said. “In the end, he can make a different decision, but everyone agreed that it is best to get out of [England] and come to California and have the training sessions as I explained to them.”

Oleksandr Usyk secured a unanimous-decision win against Joshua this month (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

Garcia also suggested that he would not travel between America and England to help “AJ” again.

“If they ask me to come back [to England], it would have to be a special situation,” he said. “If Jesse Rodriguez or Jose Ramírez have a big fight, I’d rather stay and work with them than leave.

“That’s why I told [Joshua’s team] that I would like it more if they were the ones who came here to California, and they liked the idea. Now they have to talk to Anthony and convince him.”

Usyk was a unanimous-decision winner against Joshua in London last year and a split-decision victor over the Briton in Saudi Arabia this month.

The Ukrainian remained unbeaten with the wins and could next face WBC champion Tyson Fury, also undefeated, to crown an undisputed heavyweight title holder.