Anthony Joshua’s training for the Andy Ruiz rematch was hindered after he was badly hurt in sparring.
Anthony Joshua was hurt during sparring while training for his rematch with Andy Ruiz, according to reports. Joshua will fight Ruiz for the second time in Saudi Arabia on Saturday having been beaten by the Mexico in June. It was Joshua’s first professional defeat and saw Ruiz named the new heavyweight champion.
Joshua is favourite with many to regain his belts in Diriyah on Saturday with Ruiz having shocked the world in the first fight.
He stopped AJ in the seventh having climbed off the canvas to put the Brit down four times in the fight.
There was plenty of speculation before that bout that Joshua had struggled in camp with many suggesting he was not right heading into that fight.
And now there are more reports that Joshua’s training has gone anything but smoothly.
World Boxing News report that Joshua has been badly hurt by sparring partners in training, though it is not clear who by.
Albon Pervizaj, Tom Little, Derek Chisora, Andrew Tabiti and Timothy Moten have all sparred with Joshua since his defeat to Ruiz.
World Boxing News were also the ones to report that Joshua had been put down while training for the first fight with Joey Dawejko the man to allegedly floor AJ.
The former champion insisted there had been no problems with the training camp though for that bout.
“I had no panic attack,” he said in a video shortly after the defeat.
“I have to take my loss like a man. No blaming anyone or anything.
“I am the one who went in there to perform and my performance did not go to plan. My gameplan didn’t go to plan.
“I have to readjust, analyse, do my best to correct it – and get the job done in the rematch.”
And Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists his sparring in the build-up to this fight will have helped the heavyweight.
“A major change, if you ask me, has been the sparring,” Hearn said. “Far more boxing and more partners.
“I would probably say it is the only time I have seen one of his camps where the focus is all on the other guy.
“It has been about tailoring for Andy Ruiz and what he brings.”
Meanwhile, Joshua has revealed that he has spoken with his former opponent Wladimir Klitschko about bouncing back.
He told the Telegraph: “Klitschko told me this would happen, he said he could only get good sparring after he’d lost.
“It’s ended up being a blessing because everyone wants to come to the gym now and see what it’s all about. When we lace the gloves up now there is no holding back.
“They throw everything at me, 12 rounds with five different people back-to-back and I’m dealing with every shot coming at me.”
Joshua added: “I’ve been boxing 11 years now and I have always been on top, from the amateurs to the pros, so this has been six months of letting Andy Ruiz take all that pressure.
“You’ve seen all the stuff he’s had to deal with; we’ve been dealing with that for 10 years now and it’s a breath of fresh air.
“I’m no longer focused on any other opponent than Ruiz, and it feels good to just be focused on one guy.
“It’s just a mindset, a prison mindset, like a military mindset. Lock-down. Training, focus, sleep. You have to have that mindset. You have to be in that mindset.”
And Joshua can’t wait to get going at the purpose-built Diriyah Arena, which was built inside two months.
The boxer said: “It’s going to be an incredible night and I’m thrilled so many of my fans are going to be there, particularly from the UK.
“It’ll definitely be a night people will tell their grandchildren they were at, one of those iconic evenings of boxing. Everyone from Saudi has been brilliant to work with.”
Express Sport have contacted Matchroom Boxing requesting comment and are awaiting response.
Source:www.express.co.uk