Andy Ruiz Jr, a former unified heavyweight champion, has listed three mistakes Anthony Joshua made during his heavyweight fight with Oleksandr Usyk last weekend.
Ruiz, who beat Joshua in June 2019 before the Briton bounced back by winning their rematch six months later, claimed that AJ was ‘hesitant,’ ‘scared’, and ‘probably underestimated’ Usyk during the contest.
Recall that Joshua suffered a unanimous shock points defeat to Usyk, losing his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO to the Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It was also Joshua’s second defeat in four fights.
“I thought Anthony was going to be the stronger man,” Ruiz told FightHype.
“I thought he was going to box him [Usyk] around with his abilities, you know.
“He just kind of stayed there. I don’t know why he was not moving around, like in the second fight with me.
“He ran around and made sure he did not get hit, and if he did, he would grab and move around. So he had his strategy. But for this fight, it did not go his way.
“It was probably the wrong strategy. He probably underestimated him. Kind of like how I did with Chris Arreola (in May where Ruiz won via unanimous decision).
‘I think Anthony Joshua is still there, still strong. I kind of felt he was scared and holding back a little bit. Maybe it was the lefty style of Usyk and how he moves.”
Meanwhile, Joshua is expected to take on Usyk in a rematch next year in a bid to win his world heavyweight titles back for a second time.
On Thursday, Joshua told his fans via his Instagram page, that he had watched his fight with Usyk and learnt his lessons.
