Let us get one thing right — Mark Campbell does not train Anthony Joshua.
Campbell said, from telephone from Sheffield in northern England yesterday, he is not Joshua’s trainer.
He does know plenty about the British boxer and his frightening abilities, and said he has done a bit of consultancy work to help Joshua. But Joshua, who will take on New Zealander Joseph Parker in Cardiff next weekend in a heavyweight title unification bout, is trained by Rob McCracken, a friend of Campbell’s.
Campbell (43) left Dunedin and New Zealand in 2007 after working with southern rugby franchise the Highlanders for four years.
From there it was not a long and winding road to get into British boxing and the chance to work with some of the most promising boxers in the world.
He simply went straight to England and there he stayed.
"I interviewed and got the job when I finished up with the Highlanders and came across in August 2007. I was based in Sheffield and have been here ever since."
Campbell, who is originally from Porirua but spent more than a decade in Dunedin, firstly studying and then working, works for the English Institute of Sport, and provides support in the strength and conditioning area for athletes across many sports.
That covers sports such as diving, athletics and boxing.He is heavily involved in the boxing programme which works with Olympians, Paralympians and Commonwealth Games athletes.
The programme has been instrumental in the Great Britain team wining three Olympic medals in Beijing, five in London and three in Rio de Janeiro.
Boxing is on a high in the United Kingdom and if fighters are to achieve — such as Joshua, who won Olympic gold in 2012 — it starts in the amateur ranks.
"What you find is guys who are amateurs want to go to professional ranks so are supremely motivated. What they have to do they do well ... and you ask the guys I train. I’m one of the most sadistic bastards in the world. When there is time to work, then I work.
"I was lucky with the grounding that I got. Rugby was great and I got to work with some phenomenal athletes with the Highlanders."
He played in the second row for Zingari-Richmond in the late 1990s — joining after club stalwart Gordon Baird bought him a jug at the Mornington Tavern — and then started a training career with North Otago and moved through the system to be the strength and conditioning coach at the Highlanders.
But there was only one gig left in New Zealand rugby — the All Blacks — and with Nic Gill happily ensconced as the head trainer in the All Black camp, Campbell decided to head elsewhere.
"You are certainly limited in New Zealand while here I am working in 14 to 15 sports. The variety is great. And as long as you keep succeeding, every four years there should be a job for me."
Campbell is married to Rona, a Scot, and they have a daughter Ailsa (2) with another child due this yearHe said strength and conditioning was a mix of strength, power, speed and athleticism. It came down to working hard and staying consistent.
In his role, he had done some consultancy work with McCracken and Joshua, and said the British boxer was "quite a phenomenal human being."
"In my job you get to see the ability of AJ [Joshua] so I would have to say he is my tip to win. But it is boxing and one punch can win it. And I have not seen much of Joseph Parker."
He would be attending the fight in Cardiff next weekend with tickets supplied by the British boxer.
"He [Joshua] has got the right mix of explosiveness, the speed, the build, the athletic gifts, the raw power. If I compared him to a rugby player then he could quite easily play as a winger. You are talking about a 110-112kg guy who has got lightning-fast reflexes, is strong, and is a really big size.
"He is a really nice guy and you get him outside the ring, he is a friendly guy, who helps anyone. But put him in the ring and he is a different story. He’s got that attitude that you have to have."
