British boxer Anthony Joshua reacts after a heavyweight championship boxing match against Andy Ruiz Saturday, June 1, 2019, in New York. Ruiz stopped Joshua in the seventh round. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anthony Joshua is a champion, and a warrior, even without the WBA, IBF and WBO Heavyweight titles he lost on Saturday against Andy Ruiz. Joshua was dropped four times after flooring Ruiz in the third round, and he was ultimately stopped in the seventh by a determined, well-prepared and seemingly overlooked challenger.
On Wednesday, Joshua posted a video on YouTube to discuss the loss, his mental state, and the rematch that his promoter Eddie Hearn announced would take place later this year.
Eddie Hearn
@EddieHearn
After meetings with AJ, Rob Mc and the management team in NY, we have today triggered the contracted rematch clause with Andy Ruiz Jnr. The fight will take place in Nov/Dec at a venue to be confirmed shortly.
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5:43 PM – Jun 4, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
Here is the video:
Joshua makes no excuses for his defeat. In the raw video, he shoots down all of the conspiracy theories about food poisoning, being hurt in training camp, panic attacks, and more. He also made it clear, he would be sticking with his team, and he specifically named his much-maligned trainer Rob McCracken as he talked about moving forward and preparing for future training camps.
While Joshua didn’t make excuses, he did mention the drama surrounding this fight. He talked about Jarrell Miller (who was originally supposed to face Joshua but was removed after testing positive for banned substances). Joshua also mentioned Luis Ortiz backing out of the offer to replace Miller, and Ruiz stepping in to fill the spot.
