Report: Anthony Joshua Dropped In Sparring Before Andy Ruiz Defeat

Anthony Joshua was reportedly dropped during his sparring sessions leading up to his heavyweight title fight with Andy Ruiz Jr. this past weekend.

Joshua endured one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he was knocked down four times by Ruiz, with the referee eventually calling an end to the fight in the seventh round.

Many pointed to the fact that “AJ” was acting somewhat strange before and during the fight, and there could be some truth to that.

According to a report from WorldBoxingNews.net, Joshua may have been compromised after getting dropped by training partner Joey Dawejko.

Joshua supposedly hit the canvas hard and was mentally affected, such that his father Robert even wanted his son to be removed from the headlining fight, though to no avail.

There were also rumors that the Briton suffered a panic attack before the fight. However, his promoter Eddie Hearn denied both these stories on Twitter on Tuesday.

Panic attack? I’ve heard all sorts of rumours – there was no issue at all going into the fight

— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) June 3, 2019

No he isn’t – the fake story was from a quote from @peterfury that Peter didn’t even say!

— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) June 3, 2019

Hearn also confirmed that the rematch clause had been triggered and will happen in November or December as expected. A venue is yet to be confirmed as of now.

After meetings with AJ, Rob Mc and the management team in NY, we have today triggered the contracted rematch clause with Andy Ruiz Jnr. The fight will take place in Nov/Dec at a venue to be confirmed shortly.

— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) June 4, 2019

And in what is somewhat of a surprise for many, Joshua is still the betting favorite in a rematch with Ruiz.