Andy Ruiz Jr. is not buying any of the excuses being circulated for the shocking defeat of Anthony Joshua.
Back on June 1, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Ruiz stunned the entire industry when he stopped Joshua in seven rounds to capture the WBA, IBF and WBO world titles.
Joshua went down three times in the contest before the referee waved off the bout.
In the aftermath, there were all sorts of rumors that were being pushed in the press – including tales of Joshua being knocked out in sparring, Joshua suffering a panic attack prior to the fight, Joshua suffering a pre-fight injury.
Ruiz is shaking his head at all of that.
“You know what, I think Eddie Hearn or his people are trying to get something [out there about] why he lost like that you know. But he fought a hungry guy. I was hungry, I was mentally focused for that fight and I did not want to lose in front of my family or get beat up in front of my family,” Ruiz told Metro.
“For the rematch it’s going to be the same, man, and I’m going to be even more prepared, more ready, I know his flaws, I can do a lot better. I think the only thing he can do is just run around you know, like he’s not good at boxing, he’s not a good boxer. But it’s going to be a hell of a fight for Ruiz-Joshua II.”
And Ruiz’s head trainer, Manny Robles, is on the same page with his fighter.
“There’s talks about [Joshua] getting beat up, getting hurt in sparring, about him getting stage fright or something like that, a panic attack – I don’t believe that. He’s been doing this for such a long time, I don’t believe it one bit. Andy came in prepared, we did our job to come in in the best shape possible, we came in ready, believing in ourselves and really that’s all that matters. That’s all that matters to us,” Robles said.
A rematch is already being put together, and should take place before the year is over.
–boxingscene
