Tony Sims casts his mind back to the day a young Anthony Joshua stepped foot in his Essex gym for the very first time.
Joshua was still riding high from his London 2012 gold-medal victory and was now ready to embark on a new journey with Sims.
Since then, Sims could tell that he had a celebrity on his hands.
“As soon as he walked into the gym Joshua had something special about him,” Sims talks to Central Recorder Sport about his memories.
(Image: GETTY)
“We watched him in the Olympics and he had that aura about him. You’ve only got to look at his first professional fight, I think he sold out 10,000 at the O2 Arena. So he’s always had that something special.
“Big superstars do have that about them. You can see that all of the great heavyweights throughout history have that kind of aura when they walk into rooms. Joshua has that aura immediately.
Is Anthony Joshua going to beat Oleksandr Uzyk this weekend? Please comment below.
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“You could see then that he was going to be a great fighter and potentially champion of the world.”
Of course, Sims’ gut feeling was bang on the money.
Joshua rose quickly to the top of heavyweight boxing over the past eight years, winning 15 fights and capturing the world title. He also unified the division in 19th. In the 23rd, he lost his crown, but was able to regain it immediately in the 24th.
He has also become the most popular fighter in world boxing today.
(Image: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
(Image: Instagram: @tonysims_)
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Sims was involved in only 22 of these steps, and 17 as the lead trainer. Joshua’s win over Dominic Breazeale, June 2016, was his second defense of his IBF World title. Joshua replaced him with Rob McCracken, Team GB mastermind – though Tony remained part the corner team for five of the fights.
AJ’s charisma alone, with the exception of his fight against Kubrat Pulev in June 2016, was enough to sell out all five of the country’s football stadiums. This is despite his career-defining win against Wladimir Klitschko, his second bout under McCracken. He enjoys an unrivalled level of popularity.
That’s not to say he is without an army of naysayers and critics. Who isn’t?
The charming, nice-guy image that has made Joshua a star is just a television show for some. Sims, however, is not so sure.
“From what I knew of him in the gym with me, he was always a lovely man,” He adds.
He says, “How he appears on camera is basically what he is offline.”
(Image: Instagram: @tonysims_)
“He’s a nice man, always laughing and joking. But when he needs to do his work he does it, so he’s a good guy to train with.
“I’ve always thought there’s never really been an act with him. He is a great guy.”
Many believe the toughest test of Joshua’s heavyweight career awaits him in north London this Saturday.
Under the bright lights at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, packed out with 60,000 spectators, the man from Watford will defend his unified titles against Ukrainian southpaw Oleksandr Usyk – the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
(Image: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Usyk’s expert ring IQ and technical mastery set him apart from the rest down at cruiserweight. He was able to box rings with credible opponents that were intended to threaten his dominance and take him into deep water.
The 34-year old has been criticized for his move to heavyweight. After a slow start, he won against Chazz Witherspoon, a rank underdog. Then, he defeated Derek Chisora in a tough fight.
(Image: Getty Images)
That pair of testing wins whipped up an air of uncertainty regarding his credentials as a heavyweight, and Sims isn’t convinced he will provide Joshua’s sternest challenge yet.
He says: “I think Joshua’s had bigger tests. Klitschko was obviously a massive test for him at the time.
“That’s not saying Usyk isn’t a good fighter, he’s never been beaten. He’s not a proper Heavyweight, I think.
“Chisora exposed that a little bit, a lot of people thought he won. I thought it could’ve gone either way.
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“Usyk did well in the early rounds and Chisora came on strong in the later rounds.
“But comparing Anthony Joshua to Derek Chisora, there’s no comparison. Joshua is 6ft 6in tall and his right hand, which appears to be catching Usyk, is amazing.
“When he catches you with it it’s game over.”
Fans and pundits agree that Joshua must impose his strength in Saturday’s fight, make his physical superiority count, and avoid a chess match with Usyk.
(Image: Getty Images)
Sims – who now trains the likes of Conor Benn, Ted Cheeseman and John Ryder – believes it could very well start out that way, but he’s in no doubt about the end result.
“I personally don’t see any way that Usyk is gonna win this fight or even last the distance,” He insists. “Once it goes past the midway point, Joshua’s gonna connect and the fight will be done.
“It will feel a bit like a chess game at first. If you think back to Joe Joyce’s boxing match with Usyk, the first three rounds were very difficult for him to score any shots.
(Image: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I)
“But obviously when you’re in with a big guy like Joshua, it’s really hard to keep them at bay. He’s got long arms, he’s very tall and he punches very hard.
“At first Usyk will try to keep away from him and he’ll be hard to pin down, but there’s only so long you can do that before Joshua catches up with you.
“Once it goes past the halfway mark, I think Joshua will start catching him and it’ll be game over.”