Anthony Joshua Reclaims His World Heavyweight Title
Anthony Joshua reclaims his Heavyweight title on a rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. with a unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua regained the IBF, WBA and WBO titles after an intense boxing match with Andy Ruiz who defeated him in June this year.
In an article published in BBC News, Ruiz never came close to a knockdown. When the scores were read out 118-110, 118-110, and 119,-109, Joshua jumped up and celebrated immediately because he knew that he won the bout against Ruiz. It can be recalled that Ruiz almost wrecked the career of Joshua in June after he knocked down the English boxer not once, but four times.
Joshua is now included with the legendary boxers who were able to reclaim their heavyweight title. These boxers are Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Patterson.
It can be recalled that Patterson lost his belt in 1959 after he fell to the canvass seven times during the first round of the bout against Ingemar Johansson. The question for Joshua during his bout with Ruiz is if he could regain his title after he was knocked down four times during their first fight last June.
During the fight, Ruiz barely landed a punch against Joshua. Meanwhile, Joshua exerted effort to land his punches against Ruiz that prompted loud cheers from the in-house onlookers. In the ninth round, Joshua landed a solid uppercut against Ruiz. Both fighters showed incredible performance as they boxed and manuevered through the ring.
In the 12th round, Joshua showed the crowd the heart of a champion after he proved himself to the people that he deserved to have the heavyweight back in his homeland.
After the fight. many were speculating what made Joshua to be knocked down and defeated by Ruiz during their first fight this year. Meanwhile, Ruiz can leave his boxing career as a millionaire because after his fight he earned £10m. He can live a life that any one of us dreamed to have. However, it seems like Ruiz still wants a third rematch to regain the title.
According to Joshua, a defeat in boxing is catastrophic because it is true that it promises a career but once you lost, the promising career will go nowhere and you have to start again in ground zero.
Joshua also said that some of his friends expressed how nervous they were for the fight. Even his entire team who stayed with him within 30 minutes of his fight only found relief after the fight.
His fight against Ruiz taught him lessons on how to improve himself. He did not give more details but he said that his fight against Ruiz in June pushed him to have a new approach in boxing, have adjustments, and live with the lessons after his defeat.
Meanwhile, Promoter Eddie Hearn said: "Madison Square Garden was a humiliation, he went down four times - people wrote him off, said he had no heart, he quit. He went back, brushed himself down and went back to work to prove you all wrong. It was an absolute masterclass, a shutout, a way of boxing people didn't believe he could do."
Trainer of Joshua also said "I think he was where I wanted him to be for this fight. He has listened in camp, worked really hard, and I thought he boxed very well against a dangerous fighter. Andy Ruiz is a real danger and he is very quick and heavy-handed. There were a couple of times Josh went into mid-range and came unstuck but he settled back down in the corner and got back on it. His weight was great and his jab was tremendous."