Getting chinned by a 5ft 10 heavy in sparring and having panic attacks in the dressing room, Hearn denies it though ??? Maybe AJ's sports shrink has a tougher job than he expected !
https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/03/anthony-joshua-knocked-sparring-shock-andy-ruiz-jr-defeat-9794502/ Joshua was hurt badly in a sparring session in the build-up to the fight after he was knocked to the canvas by Joey Dawejko. Dawejko, a 28-year-old 5′ 10″ heavyweight, who is nicknamed ‘Tank’ and has a professional record of 19 wins, seven defeats and four draws, was one of the fighters recruited to help Joshua prepare for his bout against Ruiz during his camp in Miami.
I heard stories of partying. And taking weed out in Miami. Well done bomb squad, thanks for selling him a dodgy packet. Lol.
If the above is true then that may have had a big impact on AJ's confidence going in. There are other factors no doubt but the main one was for the first time in AJ's post VADA testing career he was fighting a skilled, powerful HW in his prime.
I'm in agreement with you, he didn't look nervous at all if anything he looked like he had something to calm him down. I thought he was far too relaxed in the ring before the fight, diazepam will do that.
I do feel for him I have to say. That is one hell of a fall from where he was. But this can happen to anyone in the heavyweight division. It very nearly happened to Wilder against Ortiz. Ruiz is going to be a handful for anyone. The pressure of Joshua has been insane ever since the Olympics. He’s achieved great things in a short space of time. His resume is generally excellent. People are writing him off now and kicking him when he’s down. But Joshua has handled this very well and has made no excuses which is why I’m confused why people are trying to make excuses for him. I hope Joshua comes back and moves onwards and upwards but it’s going to be tough.
He needs to drop the nice guy image and start being a **** to his opponents ! Joshua has been saying he is only a baby in heavyweight terms and he could be around another ten years. He should try and regain his titles and make as much cash as possible then leave on a high.
I think the pressure spooked him, you can’t blame him really, his debut in the US, wilder out doing him at every turn. Problem is Ruiz was good, too good. In a normal circumstance we would be saying Joshua looked a bit unsettled but got the KO, job done after nerve wracking event. Problem is Ruiz is a tank that wasn’t just going away. Bad luck for Him really, Miller would probably have been a cake walk. Also tremendous pressure does weird things to a fighter, Tyson In the Holyfield rematch looked nothing like himself, he knew losing wasn’t an option, it would destroy him, same with Joshua.
Too many voices messes with your choices. He should only have who he needs with him, not people paid to carry his water or to turn his tv over etc etc. This young man needs to seriously look at his situation and deal with it asap, get rid of those cheerleaders and get real about the game.
He will probably save the details off what really went wrong in the fight for his future autobiography titled "AJ Raw innit"
