Def-initely a heavyweight!
JERMAIN DEFOE is working out with boxer Anthony Joshua’s trainer to deliver more knockout blows in the Premier League.
He has being put through a punishing regime by Jamie ‘Velocity’ Reynolds to hopefully score 30 goals this season and “win the league”.
Defoe loves nothing more than proving his doubters wrong.
Bournemouth’s new striker returned to the England squad in March when many thought he was past it.
Now 34, he is not ready to throw in the towel just yet and that is why he has recruited Reynolds.
After a short breather in the Caribbean, he went straight back to work. Defoe said: “I had my programme to do so I only had three weeks to try to chill out.
“I did bike rides, jogs and a work out with Jamie, who does Anthony Joshua’s stuff, which was really intense.
“I could hardly breathe. I said to myself, ‘Whatever it takes really’.
“It’s all short explosive and recovery stuff but you do what it takes to get fit.”
With next year’s World Cup on the horizon, Defoe still has his eye on a place in Russia before hanging up his boots.
He said: “Why be realistic? If you work hard the sky’s the limit.
“You can always do more. The age thing I never think about it.
“It’s nice to have something to prove to the people who say, ‘Yeah, he’s getting older, can he still do it?’.
“But I’m willing to do more to improve myself. Just play as long as you can, as well as you can.
“What is the aim? It is 30 goals and win the league! I like proving people wrong. It’s a nice feeling.
“When people say t he positive stuff it’s nice, but proving people wrong, that’s nicer. Before last season I didn’t really think about England so much. I just got my head down.
“It was only towards the end when people said because I was scoring goals I deserved another chance and then I thought maybe I did.
“But when I got back in the squad, a lot of people had previously t hought my international career was over. Proving them wrong was nice.”
Hard work has always been Defoe’s mantra and it has always been the advice that he has passed on to young stars of the future.
He added: “I tell them just keep working hard and enjoy it. You always have to do the r i ght t hings, c ontinue practising.
“The way the game is now most players are professional anyway. Most come back from pre- season with fi t ness science programmes and things like that.
“The game has moved on. It is completely different to when I started. In the old days you had six weeks off and just chilled, that’s the way it was.
“You rested, came back and started again f rom t he beginning. Now you get programmes and you have to come back fit.
“You try to rest for a couple of weeks but even after that you are ready to train again – and that’s what you want to do because that’s what you’re used to now.
“All the lads say that. You miss training. You have to be professional now.”
Defoe cannot wait to play alongside Josh King at Dean Court and has backed Harry Kane to score more goals for his old club Spurs.
He added: “Josh King is brilliant and I would have said that even if I hadn’t been here. The stats last year show that. I loved Harry Kane from day one when I was at Tottenham.
“Even when he wasn’t playing for the first team I used to say, ‘H, how many goals have you scored?’. He reminded me of myself – he is someone who just loves scoring goals.
“All the boys loved Harry. Who else? I don’t know so much about young forwards ‘cos I’ve always loved Aguero and players like that but that guy Jesus Gabriel at Man City is really sharp.
“I always look at different forwards. You always want to improve. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before. Those three for me are top, top players.
“It’s not a case of getting past Harry t o play f or England. In a tournament it’s usually one forward. You just have to do what you do.
“When I was young I remember players l i ke Emile Heskey but