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Hearn Denies Rumours Joshua Had A Panic Attack Before Ruiz Jr Loss Amid Calls For 'AJ' To Sack His Trainer

Hearn Denies Rumours Joshua Had A Panic Attack Before Ruiz Jr Loss Amid Calls For 'AJ' To Sack His Trainer

The Matchroom boss has hit back at claims Joshua suffered a panic attack.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Eddie Hearn has denied rumours Anthony Joshua suffered a panic attack before his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joshua was dropped FOUR times before referee Mike Griffin stopped the contest in the seventh round.

He lost his heavyweight world titles on his U.S debut in one of the most shocking upsets in boxing history.

Ruiz Jr repeatedly tagged Joshua before recording a TKO victory to become the new heavyweight world champion.

Image: PA
Image: PA

The 29-year-old Brit didn't look his usual self with his delayed ring-walk and black-eye leading up to the fight causing a stir among experts and fans.

Reports surfaced online suggesting Joshua was knocked out in sparring and had a panic attack moments before entering the ring in New York.

But Hearn has refuted such talk, branding the story as "fake news".

"The fake story was from a quote from Peter Fury that Peter didn't even say," he Tweeted.

"Panic attack? I've heard all sorts of rumours - there was no issue at all going into the fight," the Matchroom boss wrote in another post on social media.

Joshua's devastating defeat has sent shock waves through the sport with heavyweight rivals Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury reacting to his American debut, not to mention former heavyweight king Lennox Lewis who believes 'AJ' should sack Rob McCracken as his trainer.

"I say you can't go to university with your third-grade teacher. They won't have the answers you need at that level. You need a professor by then," he said.

"McCracken is A1 without question but maybe not the fit for the style AJ needs to fight. I switched to Manny Steward who understood how to leverage all of my physical attributes and skills and showed me everything I needed to know for success.

"He (McCracken) may not be right for the type of style that AJ needs to master. Aside from that AJ was not prepared for anything Ruiz brought to table."

Will Joshua regain his world titles in the rematch? Let us know what you think.

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Topics: Boxing News, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Lennox Lewis, Heavyweight, Eddie Hearn, Fight News, Wilder, fury