ANTHONY Joshua appointed Derrick James earlier this year and the pair have already been together for two fights.
AJ beat Jermaine Franklin in April, before going on to knock out Robert Helenius in August with James in his corner.
Who is Derrick James and who else does he train?
Derrick James is a 51-year-old boxing coach from Texas, America.
Former world heavyweight champion Josuha appointed Derrick James — a multiple-time world-champion trainer — in February following his two successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
The Texan had a fighting career of his own with a pro record of 27-7-1, but missed out on the chance to compete at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
He won The Ring magazine’s Trainer of the Year award in 2017.
James made his name in boxing as a coach to American boxers Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo.
Spence Jr was a unified welterweight world champion, holding the IBF, WBC and WBA titles until July this year when he was defeated by WBO champ Terence Crawford in a brutal ninth-round technical knockout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 33-year-old has an impressive 28 wins from 29 fights, with just one loss, and 23 of those victories coming by way of knockout.
James’ other charge Charlo took on pound-for-pound king and four-weight world champion Canelo Alvarez in October.
Former undisputed light-middleweight champion Jermell — who was stripped of his WBO crown as soon as the first bell rang — cut a dejected figure after coming up short in the biggest fight of his career.
He said: “I just feel like I wasn’t me in there. It’s boxing.
“Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”
The 33-year-old has had 38 fights with 35 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.
AJ was formally trained by ex-professional boxer Robert Garcia, but that partnership only lasted for the second Usyk fight.
Joshua also parted ways with long-term trainer Rob McCracken after his first defeat to Usyk.
What has Anthony Joshua said about Derrick James?
Joshua has enjoyed his time so far under James but insists he doesn’t want to put any pressure on his new trainer.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champion: “I really do rate Derrick James as a trainer.
“Lastly, I don’t want to put pressure on Derrick and say whatever happens in the future is down to him, good or bad.
“It’s all on me but asides from what he does for me, I just think Derrick as a coach I really do rate him highly.”
AJ has also said of James: “With Derrick James, I soak up every second I’m in that gym.
“Whether I’m successful or not, Derrick James is the truth.
“The time spent with him is very valuable. It all starts from the mind, it’s not just the mitts. He’s got a really good mindset.”
And AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn said Joshua is no longer being treated ‘like God’ after training in an ‘extremely humble’ gym in Texas with Derrick.
