Joshua vs Ruiz Jr: ‘Anthony Joshua lacked fear factor ahead of American debut’
Written by News on 02/06/2019
Anthony Joshua did not have the same ‘fear factor ‘ ahead of his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr, the Sky Sports team agreed in New York.
Joshua endured a stunning loss to Ruiz Jr in a monumental heavyweight upset at Madison Square Garden, suffering a seventh-round stoppage defeat that ended his unbeaten record and reign as a unified world champion.
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Tony Bellew, Johnny Nelson and Carl Froch all agreed that Joshua, who will now seek an immediate rematch, might not have been in the right mindset ahead of his American debut after the Mexican stepped in as a replacement opponent for Jarrell Miller, who failed a drug test.
“I don’t think he [Joshua] underestimated Ruiz Jr,” Bellew said, “I just think he has hasn’t had the fear factor, he’s seen no danger.
“If he was facing Deontay Wilder tonight, would he have fought like that? Absolutely not. He goes in there with a different set of tactics.”
Nelson added: “That fear factor just is not there, no matter how hard you concentrate.
“When your opponent changes at the last minute, it changes you and you drop your guard.
“I could not see this happening, it’s just one of those things.”
Froch questioned why Joshua did not thrive off an early knockdown, saying: “When he dropped Ruiz Jr with that left hook, maybe he should have got on him behind the jab and doubled up with the right hand, but he didn’t, he sat back and got dropped himself.
“The only thing you can put this down to is the psychological approach, the mental demeanour of Joshua obviously wasn’t there enough.”
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(c) Sky News 2019: Joshua vs Ruiz Jr: ‘Anthony Joshua lacked fear factor ahead of American debut’
