Anthony Joshua insists defeat to Andy Ruiz Jnr was a one-off, saying he is now ‘more polished’ and ‘more experienced’
Anthony Joshua has been “edgy” as he prepares to defend his heavyweight world championship belts against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev on Saturday and “knows the dangers of the division” after losing to Andy Ruiz Jnr 18 months ago, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
“The difference is now he [Joshua] understands the game,” Hearn told Telegraph Sport.
“Back then, in earlier defences, he was naive, and thought as soon as he hurt him [his opponent] it’s over. But the loss in the Andy Ruiz Jnr fight [in June 2019 in New York] changed him. He’s nervous and edgy this week. Now he knows he can be beat, now he knows the dangers of the division,” Hearn added.
The strategy for the champion at Wembley Arena against mandatory challenger Pulev looks to be to use his speed and agility. Joshua took part in a workout inside the boxing bubble, last night, looking lean and close to the 17st mark he weighed for the second Ruiz fight, in Saudi Arabia, when he won back his IBF, WBA and WBO belts to become a two-time world champion.
Asked if the defeat was in the past or whether it still motivates him, 31-year-old Joshua said: “I feel like the Ruiz fight is buried, for me, because I made no excuse. I took it and I dealt with it 4½ months later. Knowing what losing was like and not wanting to go there again has definitely made me tougher,” Joshua added. “Going to the gym now has given me that motivation. Not only is it about Ruiz, I want to prove to myself how good have I become over this last year.
“I’ve been training like an athlete, having to train outside the gym. I want to see what the benefits of training this year like a true athlete, as I say, has done for me.”
Joshua’s team revealed that the boxer has stayed away from the weights for this fight and has concentrated more on his cardiovascular work. Joshua knows Pulev’s strengths, which include over 300 amateur fights and just one defeat in 29 professional contests, with a solitary defeat, six years ago, by fifth-round stoppage to Wladimir Klitschko, who was then at his peak.
“I’m fighting someone experienced, with a good jab,” Joshua said. “So, I have to be ducking and diving, slipping and sliding. I can’t just be straight-up and stiff. I am going to have to adopt an elusive style as well, so I have had to work on all these aspects tactically, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that motivation I have used from the Ruiz loss has brought me on. This is the first opponent I have faced after losing and regaining the title, so it will be a good indication of where I am at.”
Joshua believes the defeat to Ruiz was a one-off. “I’m more polished because I am more experienced. I was adapting to a style I’d never used before in the second fight,” he explained, having boxed Ruiz the second time from distance, using his height and reach advantages to win clearly on points.
“I have more confidence now, knowing that style is in my locker and knowing I’ve got the punching power too. Through lockdown I trained to merge all these different dynamics – good feet, hand positioning, combination punching, the art of the jab. Now I am looking forward to putting on a great performance. Pulev is not going to be like someone in my 10th fight, where they’re sitting there to be hit, but it will be a clinical performance where I break him down and then, when the time is right, I am going to go in there and knock him out in devastating fashion.”