Anthony Joshua Reflects on Andy Ruiz Jr. Loss – ‘How Did This Fat Munchkin Throw a Barrage of Punches at Me at Once?’

After getting back his unified world titles in the rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr, Anthony Joshua will put them at stake again when he locks horns with Kubrat Pulev on December 12.

Joshua claims to have learned a lot from his loss against Ruiz Jr. from their first battle. Just like most of the fans, AJ was stunned when Ruiz Jr. unloaded a pack of punches to floor him. Even though the Briton got back to his feet, Ruiz Jr continued the assault until he knocked him out for the belts.

 Anthony Joshua rose back from that point to recapture the belts by outpointing his Mexican adversary in the rematch. That said, he claimed to be in a continuous process of learning.

Prior to his high-voltage fight against Pulev, AJ said he was surprised to be knocked by a “fat munchkin” like Ruiz and has constantly trained harder from then.

He connected with ESPN to talk about several things and also reflected on his maiden loss of pro career.‘AJ’ said, “When I lost to Ruiz. I thought how did this little fat munchkin throw like a barrage of punches at me at once. And I threw at two-punch combo and I am gasping for it.”

Anthony Joshua is a strategic killer

Since the loss, Joshua has revived his boxing career in a new phase and doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. He has undergone a good training camp and appears ready to defend his titles.

He said, “I really had to think about my strategy. You know. There’s always issues in training camps and what not but you know previously even with the Klitschko fight etc, with the Parker fight I was questioning you know. I want to become more conditioned towards performing at an intense level.”

The champion continued, “So, I have worked on punch output, less recovery, loads of like putting myself in tougher situations, being able to flow on the heavy bag for 10 minutes… Loads of different things, body sparring, which is very tough and gruesome during lockdown.”

Before going down to Ruiz Jr, Joshua had a run of 22 wins. He knocked out elites like Parker and Klitschko on his way to glory. Thus, he is equally looming and treacherous at this point and will pose some serious threats for Pulev ahead.