Andy Ruiz Jr. has had his say on Anthony Joshua’s post-fight outburst last weekend.
The former unified world heavyweight champion is back in the ring next month.
Ruiz Jr. faces Luis Ortiz on September 4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, looking to get his second win since losing his rematch against Joshua back in December 2019.
He shocked the world six months earlier, dropping the Brit four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage at Madison Square Garden in New York, but was comprehensively outboxed when the pair met in a return at the Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, just before Christmas three years ago.
Ruiz Jr. was a keen spectator on Saturday as Joshua was outpointed by Oleksandr Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, at the Jeddah Superdome.
And he spoke to ES News about the meltdown 32-year-old ‘AJ’ had –– for which he has since apologised –– in the wake of suffering his third defeat in five fights.
Ruiz said:
“He needs to have more confidence in himself.
“He threw down the belts.
“I think he was just mad he didn’t get his way.
“But he’s still a hell of a guy.”
Ruiz went on to defend Joshua’s actions, saying that it’s not normal the amount of sacrifice they have to commit to.
He continued:
“Us fighters, I don’t know how we go through what we go through.
“This is a lonely sport and ‘AJ’ is an amazing guy and he’s going to be fine.”
Joshua released a statement after his antics, admitting that he had “let himself down” and vowed to “be better” after insisting that he wanted a quick return to the ring –– potentially before the end of the year –– as he looks to get back to winning ways after back-to-back losses to the Ukrainian who, since the win, has been installed as the number one pound-for-pound fighter by the Ring Magazine.