ANTHONY JOSHUA’s shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr “changed” him and made him “apprehensive about being knocked out”.
The Watford warrior suffered one of the biggest modern upsets in boxing in his 2019 showdown with the American, in which he was knocked down four times en route to a seventh-round TKO loss.
A lean and mean Joshua outboxed Ruiz in their rematch six months later to reclaim the unified heavyweight titles but opted against wading into the fire.
AJ has continued to adopt a much more cautious approach ever since, which Brit Joe Joyce believes is the direct result of him getting stopped at Madison Square Garden.
He told iDBoxing: “He’s not gunshy, but he’s apprehensive about being knocked out because he’s been knocked out a few times.
“He prefers to be on the back foot and out of danger.”
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Joyce reckons Joshua’s reluctance to get into a firefight will show when he eventually renews his rivalry with the hard-hitting Dillian Whyte later this year.
He said: “It will tell when we see the rematch with him and Dillian Whyte.
“In the Dillian Whyte fight, he was getting hit with big shots; he was wobbling on his feet but was still coming forward.
“Something obviously changed after the Ruiz loss.”
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Putney pounder Joyce would also like to test the chin of Joshua, who he knows all too well from the sparring sessions.
He said: “I’d like to fight him as well, so.
“We’re still yet to see, and I don’t think it will happen with, [Tyson] Fury.
“I don’t even think he’ll want to fight me even though he’s knocked me out in one round or stopped me in one round in the amateurs.
“What’s he afraid of?”
Joshua hasn’t set foot in the ring since losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk last August.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champ is currently on course to return to the ring in late March, although an opponent for his comeback fight has not yet been finaised.
Joyce, meanwhile, is also targeting a March return following his 11th-round TKO win over former WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker last September.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
