Anthony Joshua reclaimed the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles with a 12-round masterclass over Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia. Joshua is now the two-time heavyweight champion after a unanimous decision victory over Ruiz. And the Brit hailed his heroic spirit but vowed to stay humble with victory.
The Olympic gold medallist erased the memory of his first professional loss with an exquisite performance in front of a sold-out crowd at the Diriyah Arena.
Joshua, 30, jabbed and moved his way to a unanimous decision victory, which brought about the end of Ruiz Jr’s reign as unified champion.
Joshua set the tone for the fight from the outset, peppering Ruiz Jr with a lightening-quick jab.
His rangey jab – which he failed to utilise in their first meeting – kept a dogged Ruiz Jr at bay and allowed him to utilise his nifty footwork.
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Joshua, understandably, was over the moon with his title-clinching victory, which saw him silence the critics he’s had to listen to for the last five months.
An elated ‘AJ’ said: “Okay, first of all, I want to thank god. I want to say bismillah. And next, I want to say ‘Man, the first time was so nice. I had to do it twice.’”
He added: “A man like me don’t make no excuses. My boy Dereck [Chisora] said I can win this if I’m ready to die. And look, this is about boxing. I’m used to knocking guys out.
“But last time, I realised, ‘Hang on a minute. I hurt the man and I got caught coming in’. And I gave the man his credit. There was no excuses, right? But I said to myself I’m going to correct myself and come again.
“I respect Andy and his family and his trainer so much. I just wanted to put on a great boxing masterclass and also show the sweet science of this lovely sport is about hitting and not getting hit.”
Joshua insists defeat to Ruiz Jr didn’t change his mentality, saying: “Never a change in mentality. You know the saying: Stay hungry, stay humble.
“I’m hungry, I’m humble in defeat and I’m going to remain humble in victory. I just want to say thank you to Andy Ruiz and his family.
“I want to say thank you to everyone in Saudi Arabia and I want to say thank you to all of the travelling fans and all of the supporters.”
Ruiz though is keen on a trilogy fight after admitting he got things wrong in the build up.
He said: “It was his night. I didn’t prepare how I should have, I gained too much weight.
“I don’t want to give too many excuses, he boxed me around. If we do the third, best believe I get in the best shape of my life.
“[The weight] affected me. I thought I’d feel stronger, thought I’d feel better. I tried to train myself, but I don’t want to give no excuses. Anthony Joshua did a hell of a job.
“Who wants to see the third trilogy fight?”
And on the possibility of a third fight, Joshua said: “Would I do it again? Without a doubt.
“I took my loss and bounced back. I heard some people say I should retire, I love this sport too much.”