By Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn was triggered in response to a Tweet by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder last Saturday night in which he gloated at AJ’s seventh round knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hearn said that Wilder has “zero class” and that he hopes Ruiz Jr. beats him if he gets passed Joshua in their rematch later this year.
Joshua QUIT against Ruiz says Wilder
Wilder happily pointed out that former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) “QUIT” in the seventh round after he was knocked down twice by Ruiz with heavy shots. Hearn didn’t argue that fact, because it’s pretty obvious that’s what the case was. Joshua spit out his mouthpiece after he was dropped for the second time in the seventh round, and the fourth time in the fight.
Joshua hung both arms against the ropes, and didn’t show much interest when the referee asked him if he wanted to continue fighting. It sure looked like Joshua quit against Ruiz, which is fine. Why continue fighting if you’ve got no chance of winning, and you’re about to get poleaxed by the blinding fast Ruiz? However, you can understand where Wilder is coming from in saying that Joshua quit. Wilder is the type of guy that believe fighters should go out on their shield like warriors from the past. Watching Joshua seemingly quit against Ruiz in round 7 was off putting to Wilder.
“I saw Wilder’s tweet. It is what it is. I don’t think he’s at the top of the list in terms of class, but we’ll get him,” said Hearn to Behind the Gloves in talking about Wilder gloating about Joshua’s loss to Ruiz. “It’s hard to say, isn’t it,” said Hearn when asked if Wilder would have beaten Joshua last Saturday night if it had been him facing AJ. “Different styles, different fights. Joshua is better against taller, stand up heavyweights,” said hearn.
Hearn: many people are delighted to see Joshua lose
“Joshua is down right now. If you want to kick him while he’s down, no problems,” said Hearn at the post-fight news conference after Joshua’s crushing loss to Ruiz. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are actually delighted at Joshua’s loss tonight. He’s a real champion. He wanted to fight anybody, and he stepped up,” said Hearn about Joshua taking the challenge to fight Ruiz. “It wasn’t the case of, ‘we need to pick the right guy.’ It was, ‘yes, we believe we can beat Andy Ruiz. Let’s do it.'” said Hearn.
There are clearly many boxing fans who are happy seeing Joshua lose for the first time, because they don’t like the way he’s been built up to be a star based on the wins he’s accumulated. Some argue that other heavyweights in the division would have beaten everyone that Joshua has faced on his 23-fight resume.
A lot of other boxing fans don’t like the way that Joshua has been given opportunities to fight top guys like Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Charles Martin, and Dominic Breazeale. They see his popularity coming from him winning a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics. It was a controversial win for Joshua. He could have lost three of his fights in that Olympics to Ivan Dychko, Erislandy Savon and Roberto Cammarelle.
Would Joshua have been able to become a huge star if he didn’t win the 2012 Olympics? Probably not. He would likely be another Joe Joyce. He’s a fighter that captured a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics. One can argue that Joyce was more deserving of a gold medal in the Olympics than Joshua, as he lost a controversial decision France’ Tony Yoka in the final. Had Joyce won a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics, he have been given the same red carpet treatment that Joshua has been given since he turned pro.
“Listen, Deontay Wilder has zero class. If Andy can beat Joshua in a rematch, I hope he goes and beats Deontay Wilder as well,” said Hearn.
Wilder could face Ruiz next year if he beats AJ in their rematch later year. Hearn hasn’t made it official yet that Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) will be facing Ruiz Jr. yet in a rematch. Hearn has talked about Joshua wanting the rematch, but they haven’t sat down yet to hash it out. It’s quit possible that once Joshua and Heart meet, they’ll come to the conclusion that it would be better to take the fight with Ruiz down the road instead of right away.
AJ needs to change his fighting style, and fix the conditioning problems that he showed against Ruiz before he faces him. A new trainer would be ideal as well. Rob McCracken has been with Joshua for a long time, but his conditioning and his problems with low punch resistance continue to plague him. A new trainer that specializes in helping fighters deal with stamina problems and poor chins would be helpful. With McCracken, Joshua might continue to have problems in those areas. If this was a chess game last Saturday night instead of a boxing match, Ruiz would have destroyed Joshua in two moves. If Joshua faces Ruiz in October or November, the memory would be their for Andy to go and do exactly what he did before to AJ to knock him out quickly.
Here’s Deontay Wilder’s Tweet that triggered Hearn:
“He wasn’t a true champion. His whole career was consisted of lies, contradictions and gifts.
Facts and now we know who was running from who!!!!
#TilThisDay. The worst thing you can do in life is F—–g Quit!!”
The loss for Joshua makes Wilder the #1 heavyweight in the division by default, although some would say that Ruiz is now the top guy. Most boxing fans likely now see Wilder as #1, Tyson Fury #2, Ruiz #3 and Joshua #4. We could see Joshua slip even further down the list if he loses to Ruiz in their rematch. Guys like Dillian Whyte, Joseph Parker and Joe Joyce could move up and surpass Joshua.
A huge congratulations to you @Andy_destroyer1 for your upset win last night. You’ve been blessed to come out of the struggle and to become the 1st Mexican Heavyweight Champion Ever!
Wow, that’s amazing and I’m wishing you many more blessings to come. pic.twitter.com/IqdRX6Yzo0— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) June 2, 2019
“Ruiz was never a good style for him. What was Ruiz? 20 to 1,” said Hearn. ?It was always a much closer fight than people though. Credit to Andy Ruiz. He shocked the world tonight. It was one of the biggest heavyweight upsets of all time,” said Hearn.
It wasn’t so much the style of Ruiz that resulted in Joshua losing to him. It was more a conditioning issue that led to him losing. Joshua got tired in the third round after he dropped Ruiz. When Joshua tried to finish him off, he exhausted himself and got knocked down twice. Hearn is enabling Joshua by blaming his loss on Ruiz being a bad style for him. The only thing that Ruiz did that was bad for Joshua was fight hard, and throw a lot of punches in key moments. It wasn’t magic that Ruiz was working inside the ring last Saturday night. It was just good old fashioned hard work, and being busy when he had to against a fighter with atrocious stamina.
Hearn needs to look at the loss for what it is. Joshua doesn’t have the cardio or the defensive skills that he needs to exist at the highest rungs of the heavyweight division. The cardio can be improved with a good coach, and proper dedication. Joshua might not want to dedicate himself to improving his cardio, because his muscles will melt if he goes about it the right way. Joshua should be fighting at no higher than 220 to 225 pounds. That’s when he was at his best.
Since Joshua turned pro in 2013, he’s hit the weights hard, and bulked up to 247 pounds. Not surprisingly, Joshua isn’t as good as he was when he was in the 220s. The other thing Joshua needs to work on his defense. He needs to get a new trainer that knows how to work with big men with stamina problems. You’d like to give McCracken a break, but he’s been with Joshua his entire, and he’s not improving. If anything, Joshua is getting worse with his defense and conditioning. That tells you it’s time for AJ to get a new trainer before it’s too late. If Joshua absorbs another loss or two, his career could be over for all intents and purposes.
“I just shocked the world, and I’m the first Mexican heavyweight champion,” said Ruiz last Saturday night at the post-fight news conference.
Andy Ruiz makes history
Ruiz made history last Saturday night in becoming the first Mexican heavyweight world champion. He’s about to become quite wealthy if he can beat Joshua a second time, and then defeat Wilder and Tyson Fury. Those fights would likely have rematches as well Ruiz wins.