Anthony Joshua's New Reason For Losing To Andy Ruiz Jr Won’t Go Down Well With Fans

Anthony Joshua has claimed the New York boo boys and the thought of fighting Deontay Wilder is why he suffered a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joshua was stopped inside the distance on his American debut with the British fighter set to run it back with the heavyweight king after triggering the contracted rematch clause.

And ahead of facing Ruiz Jr again, he's opened up about his first professional defeat.

He's explained in detail how the Madison Square Garden crowd and having one eye on Wilder were responsible for his loss.

"This fight, in terms of what it meant, there was no real gain in it," he told JD Sports.

"So beating Ruiz, I could be sitting here now and it wouldn't have meant as much to me as it is to train for the rematch.

"Everything it meant to Ruiz winning, is everything it didn't mean to me beating him."

Image: PA

Joshua added: "In the second round I heard the crowd booing, someone told me there was a fight going on in the arena, that's why. But [my] debut in New York - crowd's booing.

"The week before, Wilder had knocked [Dominic] Breazeale out in the first round and I'm fighting two weeks after, so [I thought] 'let's go and handle business', I don't want to let the people down.

"With this fight here, I feel like where I've been fighting for so many years, when I came into the boxing arena, it was like I was steamrolling through.

"Joshua's going to fight, yeah, boom, knock them out, so from walking into a gym, to three years later competing in the Olympics, from turning professional to three years later becoming world champion, it seemed like this was already written in the stars.

"But I think behind the scenes, the efforts, the education, the mind training that it takes to develop these skills and capabilities to be in that position are tiring.

"When it looks easy, they never truly respect what it is you are trying to achieve.

"My purpose for that fight was, 'am I fighting Wilder next?' The purpose for that fight was, 'what is he doing next?', it wasn't solely on winning that fight."

Image: PA

A venue for the eagerly anticipated rematch has not yet been announced with the likes of New York, Los Angeles and UAE rumored to host the bout. But Joshua is hoping the rematch lands in Cardiff.

Will 'AJ' reclaim the heavyweight world titles? Let us know in the comment section.

Topics: Boxing News, Andy Ruiz Jr, Joshua News, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Heavyweight, Fight News, Deontay Wilder

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@https://twitter.com/NasJabbar