Anthony Joshua’s new coach, Derrick James, has dismissed any criticism of the heavyweight boxer’s tactics against Jermaine Franklin in their bout at the 02 Arena in London.

Joshua won a comfortable unanimous decision at the end of twelve rounds and despite displaying a solid jab on multiple occasions, pundits and commentators labelled him tentative in the aftermath.

Speaking after on Friday, James said he was happy with the two-time heavyweight champion’s performance, and rebutted claims that it was the same Joshua, saying he handled the fight as planned.

“I was happy, because he did exactly what I wanted him to do. People said they wanted to see him do this or that, that wasn’t in my plan,” the trainer explained.

“So people say ‘the same old AJ’ – nah you didn’t see the same old AJ. Because of the movements and everything he did to take away from Jermaine Franklin.

“He’s a tough fighter and he’s gonna fight you to the end. But we never let him be in the fight.”

Analyst tipped Joshua to win with an early stoppage to re-announce himself on the heavyweight scene following two disappointing losses to Oleksandr Usyk.

“If anybody wants to talk about Joshua, talk about me. Because I did the game plans, I did the strategy. He just did what I asked him to do … Be mad at me, talk about me, cause it was all strategy, it was all game plan. He followed it to a tee.”