ANTHONY JOSHUA has admitted he took his eye off the ball as he explained his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.
AJ was floored four times on the way to a seventh round stoppage defeat on his US debut in June and is now negotiating his rematch against the Mexican.
But as he closes in on a date and venue for the showdown, he has let slip he slightly overlooked Ruiz the first time around with his mind already on WBC champ Deontay Wilder.
Joshua told JD Sports: “With this fight here, I feel like where I’ve been fighting for so many years, when I came into the boxing arena, it was like I was steamrolling through.
“Joshua’s going to fight, yeah, boom, knock them out, so from walking into a gym, to three years later competing in the Olympics, from turning professional to three years later becoming world champion, it seemed like this was already written in the stars.
“But I think behind the scenes, the efforts, the education, the mind training that it takes to develop these skills and capabilities to be in that position are tiring.
“When it looks easy, they never truly respect what it is you are trying to achieve.
“My purpose for that fight was, ‘am I fighting Wilder next?’ The purpose for that fight was, ‘what is he doing next?’, it wasn’t solely on winning that fight.”
'NO REAL GAIN'
AJ, 29, continued: “This fight, in terms of what it meant, there was no real gain in it.
“So beating Ruiz, I could be sitting here now and it wouldn’t have meant as much to me as it is to train for the rematch.
“Everything it meant to Ruiz winning, is everything it didn’t mean to me beating him."
And the Watford-born boxer admitted that the Madison Square Garden boo boys also affected him mentally.
Joshua added: ““In the second round I heard the crowd booing, someone told me there was a fight going on in the arena, that’s why. But [my] debut in New York – crowd’s booing.
"The week before, Wilder had knocked [Dominic] Breazeale out in the first round and I’m fighting two weeks after, so [I thought] ‘let’s go and handle business’, I don’t want to let the people down.”
Meanwhile it has emerged the much-anticipated rematch could be in Saudi Arabia.
The Athletic's Mike Coppinger claimed: “There’s a very real possibility the Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua heavyweight title rematch heads to Saudi Arabia.
“Organisers are making a strong push to stage the rematch. The country continues to show a keen interest in luring boxing events of similar magnitude.”
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