Anthony Joshua didn’t just lose to Andy Ruiz Jr. this past June in New York. He was beaten down, as much emotionally as physically.
That’s one reason his attempt to the turn the tables in their rematch Saturday in Saudi Arabia is a significant challenge. Another is that Joshua took an immediate rematch instead of rebuilding his confidence against a lesser foe, which some believe was ill-advised.
Others have succeeded in reversing such a debacle. Joe Louis comes to mind. A young “Brown Bomber” was beaten up by veteran Max Schmeling in 1936. Two years later Louis KO’d the German inside one round.
A more modern example is Wladimir Klitschko. The giant Ukrainian suffered three deflating knockouts early in his career but bounced back to become one of the most-enduring heavyweight champions of all time.
Lennox Lewis reversed his misfortune in an immediate rematch, as Joshua is trying to do. Lewis was knocked out by Hasim Rahman in five rounds but, more focused, returned the favor in four rounds seven months later. He also avenged a knockout loss to Oliver McCall, although those fights were years apart.
[jwplayer UxVgXM2X]
Lewis, speaking to members of the media before the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz II fight on Nov. 23, wouldn’t predict how things might go for Joshua in the rematch but said their situations were entirely different.
“The way I lost was one punch,” he said. “When you lose by one punch, then you know the problem is not to get punched. For me, it was just a defensive error. It was like falling off a horse. OK, you fell off a horse. Let just get on the horse and show you I can ride the horse.
“It was a situation where, yeah, he caught me with one punch but he’s not a better fighter than me. I have more talent them him. … What I need to do is my best, don’t make a silly mistake because that’s what allowed me to lose the fight.”
In other words, Joshua knew exactly what the problem was and how to correct it. Joshua? That’s a different story.
His loss against Ruiz wasn’t the result of a single mistake or a single blow. Joshua was knocked down four times before the fight was stopped. And his body language when referee Michael Griffin waved off the fight screamed, “I’m hurt, I’m lost, I have no idea what to do.”
Some wonder whether that sense of helplessness can be damaging psychologically – and linger.
“(Joshua) can look at the tape and say, ‘When I get hurt, I need to hold him properly,’” Lewis said the week of Wilder-Ruiz. “That’s one thing I noticed. The second thing is he came back to the corner (after being hurt) and said, ‘What’s happening? What is he doing?’ I don’t know what happened but he obviously has gone back to the drawing board and looked at what he needs to do. Let’s hope he can correct it before the fight.
“… It was a bad loss,” Lewis added. “He’s got a heavy task ahead of him. He’s making the right moves. … (But) he needs to learn a lot of stuff.”
Lewis also doesn’t think an immediate rematch was a good idea – “especially how he lost” – but the site of the fight, in another foreign country, seems to bother him more.
[jwplayer Gg7aycug]
The former three-time heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer doesn’t begrudge promoter Eddie Hearn the money generated by staging the fight in Saudi Arabia. That’s his job, Lewis said.
At the same time, fighters’ needs aren’t always met when business comes first.
“(Joshua’s) promoter should really have brought the fight back to England, where his family is, where his crowd is, and build him back up that way,” Lewis said. “Now he’s been brought back to another foreign country where he doesn’t know anybody. …
“I don’t think an event should be made just because of the money. It should be what’s better for your fight, what’s the best place for your fighter, to guarantee the win. … Promoters try to get the most money possible but the promoter and boxer and supposed to work hand in hand.”
In the end, Lewis said, Joshua can win if he’s ready.
“If Joshua doesn’t come in mentally and physically prepared, he’ll lose the fight,” Lewis said. “… He felt he wasn’t in the best shape (in the first fight), so he’s gotten himself in great shape. That gives him confidence. He was 50 percent in the first fight and was able to hurt Ruiz but couldn’t take him out. Now he’s 100 percent. Now if he hurts the guy, he will be able to take him out.
“That’s what will be in his head, ‘I’m a better boxer than him and I’ll show him.’
”
