Top Stories

I’m not blaming anyone for my defeat -Joshua

British heavyweight Anthony Joshua says he has no excuses for his shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr, in which he lost his IBF, WBO and WBA world titles.

The loss in New York was the first of Joshua’s 23-fight professional career and he has dismissed suggestions anything was wrong with him.

“I had no panic attack,” the 29-year-old said in video posted online on Wednesday.

“I have to take my loss like a man. No blaming anyone or anything.”

ALSO READ: Icardi, Nara rock Inter with naked photos

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Tuesday that a rematch with United States-born Mexican Ruiz, part of the contract for Saturday’s fight, would take place in November or December.

“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,” added Joshua.

“I have to readjust, analyse, do my best to correct it – and get the job done in the rematch.”

The Briton was floored four times as Ruiz won in seven rounds at Madison Square Garden.

Before the final round, Joshua looked perplexed in his corner and said to his trainer Rob McCracken: “Why am I feeling like this?”

The London 2012 Olympic champion subsequently had a concussion test.

Joshua says his pre-fight training camp in Miami was “spot on” and he did not eat any contaminated foods. He also said he would continue to work with McCracken.

ALSO READ: Mane forced to deny bizarre wedding rumours

“There have been a lot of accusations and worries about what was wrong with me,” he added.

“I want to tell you this: I am a soldier and I have to take my ups and my downs – and on Saturday I took a loss.

“Congratulations to Andy Ruiz. He has six months or so to be champion because the belts go in the air and he has to defend them.

“I would not mind if [the rematch] was in New York again or in England.”

Sporting Tribune

Recent Posts

Pitstop triathlon debuts with N1.5m star prize, targets future Olympians

Pitstop Lagos on Sunday launched its maiden triathlon competition with a N1.5 million star prize,…

38 minutes ago

Arsenal loses ‘judgement day’ to Man City, may bottle EPL again

Erling Haaland scored a second-half winner at the Etihad, meaning Pep Guardiola’s City will top…

45 minutes ago

Liverpool edge Everton as Van Dijk nets 100th-minute winner

Liverpool have scored six 90th-minute winners against Everton in the Premier League....

2 hours ago

Raducanu pulls out of Madrid Open

The Madrid Open starts on Tuesday, with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic also having pulled…

4 hours ago

Bournemouth owners close to Exeter Chiefs takeover

It was revealed last week that an American consortium were on the verge of securing…

5 hours ago

Man City vs Arsenal: 10 most hyped games in Premier League history

While many of the matches are up to the hype, some fell short of the…

6 hours ago

This website uses cookies.