Anthony Joshua's senses 'weren't there' after early shot from Andy Ruiz Jr., Eddie Hearn tells DAZN

Tom Gatto

Anthony Joshua's senses 'weren't there' after early shot from Andy Ruiz Jr., Eddie Hearn tells DAZN image

Anthony Joshua may have been hurt worse than he let on during his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1 at Madison Square Garden.

Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, told DAZN's Chris Mannix this week that the former unified heavyweight champion told him his "senses weren't there" after taking a punch to the side of the head early in the fight.

"He doesn't remember anything, really, from the third round," Hearn said in an extended interview about the fight that was posted Friday on DAZN's YouTube channel. "In fact, he's taken a little bit of positivity that he managed to go four rounds after that."

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Joshua was knocked down four times in the fight. Referee Michael Griffin stopped the bout 1:26 into the seventh round after knockdown No. 4. Hearn told Mannix that Griffin made the correct call even though Joshua told Griffin he was fit to continue.

Hearn denied reports that an injury in sparring left Joshua compromised on fight night, or that Joshua suffered a prefight panic attack. Joshua also denied the panic attack report in a separate video, but he did say he suffered a concussion.

Hearn posited that Joshua might have taken the unheralded Ruiz lightly, 

"Maybe he took this, subconsciously, too easy," Hearn told Mannix. "Maybe he wanted to put on a show, make this look easy, devastating knockout, got caught trying to end it in style. I know him very, very well. He ain't sleeping very well.

"This is, hopefully, going to drive him to focus on what is now one of the biggest fights in the sport." 

Hearn was referring to the mandatory rematch. Hearn told Mannix that he expects to see a different, better Joshua in the ring on that night.

"He will have fear this time, he will be focused this time, probably the things he wasn't on (June 1)," Hearn said.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.