Anthony Joshua needs to focus on his craft in a boxing gym rather than lifting weights. Well, that's according to Andre Ward who has offered his theory on why the ex-unified heavyweight king was defeated on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Brit tipped the scales at 17 stone and looked extremely muscly ahead of facing Andy Ruiz Jr.
Of course, his American debut turned out to be a nightmare after he suffered a devastating seventh round stoppage to the unheralded challenger.
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Joshua has since been subject to intense scrutiny with Ward now claiming his body is built all wrong. The ex-super-middleweight world champion also believes he's got too much muscle mass.
"I thought about it for a hot second," he said when asked about potentially facing Joshua back in June 2017.
"I did have Joshua on my radar after Kovalev 2. I had a three-fight plan before I decided to retire, and that was a tune-up fight back home.
"After a cruiserweight fight in the UK, and then we were going to fight Anthony Joshua, because what you saw Ruiz do, I know I could do that in my own way. It would look different, but I can do that [beat Joshua]. But I don't want to take anything away from Joshua."
Ward then critiqued Joshua's Adonis-like physique.
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"He's a gold medalist. He had three out of the four belts," he added.
"He's not as bad as everyone is starting to make him out to be. You learn a lot about people when they lose. When you don't look good, you see all the boo birds come out of the woodwork. It's the truth. He didn't get this far by not being the truth.
"He's just built all wrong. He's got too much muscle mass. He's too worried about battle roping, and lifting weights, and looking like a model on Instagram instead of being in a boxing gym working on his craft. There's no substitute for that."
Is Joshua too big? Well, he came in a little heavier than his last couple of fights, but right in the area of what he normally weighs.
Joshua has the chance to reclaim his heavyweight titles in the rematch. His promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed they've triggered the contracted rematch clause.
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Ruiz Jr vs. Joshua 2 will take place in November/December.
Will 'AJ' bounce back from his first professional defeat? Let us know.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Boxing News, Andy Ruiz Jr, Joshua News, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Heavyweight, Eddie Hearn, Fight News
