“He’s going to be dealing with a completely different beast!”Joshua hungry to prove people wrong in Ruiz rematch

Speaking ahead of the highly-anticipated rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr later this year, Anthony Joshua was in a reflective yet bold mood. Despite the cynics and intense scrutiny, Joshua cannot wait to inflict revenge.

Since suffering his first defeat on June 1, the Brit has admitted he’s had to soul search and question his ability. Following years of success with an unbeaten record intact, Joshua lost his unified heavyweight belts to Andy Ruiz in a seventh-round knockout defeat causing his dream American bow to become the nightmare in New York.

Analysing at how he can turn the tide in the rematch, the Watford man wants to add to the team he has got, rather than undergo a complete overhaul in his structure.

“We are still open. I’ve still got to reach out to George Foreman still. He’s made it vocal that he wants to help and all help right now is needed. I need to be around as much boxing people as possible  because right now I need to soak in the experience and knowledge.

I need to get that passion back and realise I’m not interested in ‘this fighter or that fighter.’ I’m only interested in getting those belts back.”

Joshua’s second bout with the Mexican is yet to be confirmed following the Mexican’s shock victory at Madison Square Garden. Despite reluctance from the newly-crowned champion to come to the UK shores, “AJ” admits he would prefer it to be back in the UK and mentioned the possibility of the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

“Ruiz, I’ve seen he’s done a lot of talking about what he wants, but he don’t call the shots in that sense, it’s a team effort,” Joshua exclusively told Sky Sports..

I went there off (to the US) my own back, so for the rematch now, I would love it to be in Cardiff, however, [if]it’s going to be on neutral ground, Ruiz is the champ, we’ll kind of make some calls as well in that situation.

I could fight him in Tijuana and his uncle could be the ref. I’m going to whoop him.”

After being crowned Mexico’s first heavyweight world champion, Ruiz has been extremely vocal regarding the credentials of the man he toppled in New York, describing him as “robotic and lacks boxing skills.”

However, the former Olympic gold medalist disagrees:

“I want to add what I have so when I fight Ruiz in the rematch he is going to assume that was the best Anthony Joshua in the ring. When I come for the rematch he is going to be dealing with a completely different beast. “

The second meeting between the pair is likely to take place at the back end of this year, with the date and venue set to be announced in the coming week.