Olympic gold medallist Galal Yafai has revealed that Anthony Joshua would regularly seek boxing advice from inexperienced amateur fighters, despite holding unified heavyweight world titles.
The flyweight champion, who won gold at Tokyo 2020, shared his observations from training alongside Joshua at Great Britain's Sheffield headquarters.
"It's quite crazy really and it's not a disrespectful thing, but sometimes he'd ask someone who's like a young kid who's just getting on the team, who's not even on the full podium squad that's on like an academy, which is like the younger team," Yafai told The Sun.
The revelation highlights Joshua's dedication to continuous learning, even when he had already reached the pinnacle of professional boxing.
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PAYafai expressed his astonishment at Joshua's approach to learning from fighters with far less experience than himself.
"He'd ask them questions and I'd be like bloody hell, why are you asking him, him a question? They just get on the team, he should be asking you, you're the Olympic gold medalist, you're the unified world champion," Yafai said.
The flyweight champion emphasised that Joshua would seek insights from fighters who were "way less experienced" rather than just slightly less accomplished.
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"But yeah, he'd always ask questions even from people - I don't want to say below him - but that are new to the team, way less experienced, not even just a little bit like way less experienced," Yafai explained.
Despite this unusual approach, Yafai noted that Joshua "always give time, he's always good to myself and everyone around."
Yafai discussed the possibility of Joshua returning to train with former coach Rob McCracken at Sheffield, following their split after the September 2021 loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
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Galal Yafai won gold at Tokyo in 2021
Joshua has since worked with trainers Robert Garcia, Derrick James and most recently Ben Davison.
The 35-year-old has been absent from the ring since his knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September, after which he underwent elbow surgery.
"If he ever came back Sheffield it'd be good to see him around but I don't know that's something that him and Rob would have to go through but crazier things have happened," Yafai said.
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The flyweight champion recalled Joshua becoming "part of the family" during his time at Sheffield, describing him as "a great fighter and a superstar" who "helped everyone in in British boxing."
Yafai is preparing for his own bout against Mexican veteran Francisco Rodriguez Jr on Saturday, with hopes of earning a shot at unified WBA and WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji.
The British fighter warned against underestimating his opponent, despite Rodriguez Jr's lower profile in the UK.
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GETTY"He's a former champion, he fought the best of the best, so it's not an easy fight. People don't really know him too well but I can't look past him," Yafai said.
He cautioned that assuming an unknown fighter lacks quality would be "the biggest mistake someone can make because he's a really good fighter but he's just not hugely well known here."
"I'm not looking past him. He's a great fighter and hopefully I can get rid of him Saturday," Yafai concluded.
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