Legendary boxing promoter Kellie Maloney believes that sticking with trainer Rob McCracken will be detrimental to Anthony Joshua's chances of defeating Andy Ruiz Jr tonight.

Maloney, who helped Lennoz Lewis rebuild his career after his shocking first defeat, said Joshua and his coach are too familiar and too close and this will influence the fight.

When Maloney and Lewis were preparing for the comeback, they instantly fired Pepe Correa and replaced him with Emanuel Steward.

“One thing was clear, Emanuel was the boss in the gym," said Maloney. “I was concerned when I saw last week that AJ had said McCracken is more than a trainer — he’s a friend.

“Your trainer can’t be your friend. It should be a business arrangement. It has to be."

She added: "If I was Joshua I would have changed my training team after Ruiz beat him in June.

“You can’t learn if you stay with the same team. You’ve got to change something."

Joshua is hoping to to regain the WBA, IBF and WBO world title belts he lost in his shock technical knockout in the 7th round defeat to Ruiz last summer.

Maloney was cautious on predicting the outcome of the fight, saying: “I think Joshua will box carefully this time and win on points. It could be like a chess match."