Anthony Joshua's sparring partner has claimed he was living a "prison lifestyle" before his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was looking for revenge against Usyk last weekend but came up short losing to a split decision in Saudi Arabia to hand him a second consecutive defeat. 'AJ' believed he had the ability and game plan to overcome Usyk at the second time of asking after making significant changes to his preparations for the second meeting.
This included working with new trainer Robert Garcia and Angel Fernandez at Loughborough University, after replacing long-term coach Rob McCracken following his first defeat to Usyk last September. And Joshua's sparring partner Isaac Okoh has revealed Joshua did all he could during training camp to retain focus on the task at hand.
"I know that when we were in Loughborough, he was in the campus of the uni, going to the gym and he'd go back to his room, eat and that's it. It was like living a prison kind of lifestyle in the camp," Okoh told Sky Sports. "It was the same in Jeddah. He'd go to the gym, go back to the hotel, eat, sleep and just the same thing.
"Doing that for a long time at such a high intensity and training for such a big event, it's hard. To stay focused for that long, it must be hard. I haven't been in that situation. He carried British boxing for a long time. Been the face of British boxing for a long time. Especially coming off the back of the first defeat [to Usyk], the pressure he must have been under must have been immense.
"Obviously, he's got to try and keep it all together because he's so much in the public eye that he has to remain calm and be the role model. He's genuinely a great person and he is genuinely a role model. But obviously when you're in high-intensity fights like that, it's hard. It's a big weight on your shoulders to carry."
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Joshua was unable to get the nod on the night despite his disciplined approach to the event, with Usyk now moving into Joshua's dream position of touching distance to an undisputed tilt with Fury. His immediate future remains uncertain having been left out of the title picture, but several fights could be on the cards with his return planned for December.
The 32-year-old's promoter Eddie Hearn believes Joshua must fight Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder before the end of his career. "I see the Dillian Whyte fight as a must-make fight," he said when assessing Joshua's next moves on the DAZN Boxing Show. "I see Deontay Wilder as a must-make fight. And I also see him fighting Tyson Fury because it's still a monumental fight.
