World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has opened up about his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June of 2019. Joshua, who has won 23-1 bouts throughout his career and has 21 knockouts to his name, freely admits that Ruiz came out of nowhere to beat him. Ruiz unexpectedly carried the day and went home with Joshua’s belts.
‘Shook’
It’s not uncommon for fighters to come up with excuses and long explanations after they are dealt a defeat. They always insist to fans and the media that something ‘made them lose.’ But Joshua took a different approach. ‘I got beat and was shook,’ he admits. ‘It’s tough. It’s a hard game. I got beaten to a pulp.’
Abruptly Halted
The referee overseeing the Joshua vs. Ruiz bout ended the match abruptly. In boxing, the referee is allowed to halt the match if he concludes that one of the fighters can’t go on. The match ended in the seventh round after Ruiz knocked Joshua down four times. It’s worth noting, however, that Joshua had never lost a match before this – let alone being knocked down a whopping four times.
Comeback Kid
After losing to Ruiz, Joshua called for a rematch, which Ruiz honoured. The bout in June had tainted Joshua’s image. Fans all over the world were shocked that Joshua could lose a match so dramatically. But AJ, as his fans call him, wasn’t done just yet, wanted to stage a comeback, just like an expired website. It would be great if it was as easy for him to return to former glory. If you have a website and you want to renew its domain and improve your SEO, then use Internet Vikings expired domain names to take your site back to it’s previous best.
The rematch was held last December in Saudi Arabia, and Joshua managed to beat Ruiz. With that said, AJ’s next scheduled match is with IBF mandatory fighter Kubrat Pulev. If he wins, he’ll advance to the unification challenge against WBC champion Tyson Fury.