Anthony Joshua trainer Rob McCracken in a very interesting series of what the heavyweight champion is working on behind the scenes.
Double jab-right hand combinations are something heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua looks to be working hard on at the moment in the gym.
Joshua is a powerful, powerful puncher, evident from his 18-0 (18KO) record to date. No doubt about that.
But in the grand scheme of things when you look at the relatively low amount of amateur fights he had (despite winning Olympic Gold) he is still learning his trade.
Also despite finding himself already the number one heavyweight in the world at present, most people would agree after his Klitschko stoppage win back in April.
Balance and distance are something that Joshua trainer Rob McCracken can be heard telling his fighter today on an IFL TV video:
“Straight ahead, not looking at the floor. Relax. Relax. Relax. You wan’t to sit down. You don’t want to lean forward. Straight ahead, don’t lean forward. Don’t think about it.”
One of Joshua’s killer punches that has done serious damage so far to some of his opponents – namely Dillian Whyte, Wladimir Klitschko and Eric Molina is the uppercut, but today, Joshua appears to be working more on his straight shots down the middle.
McCracken can also be heard telling Joshua while another pad man is soaking up body shots from the champion to:
“Think uppercuts and hooks are coming back at ya.”
Perhaps one of the more interesting things from the below IFL TV YouTube video (hat tip) is the correcting of Joshua’s shots falling short of the target, by getting him at one point to aim higher on the heavybag with his straight right hand:
When you consider that Joshua still is no where near his prime as a heavyweight yet, and might not be for at least another couple of years, the room for improvement is considerable.
With a tough task master like McCracken who won’t let any bull go to his head, expect that Joshua power to increase in his next fight against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at a date to be confirmed.
