Anthony Joshua admits Deontay Wilder KO affected him during defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr - (2026)

Anthony Joshua has revealed that Deontay Wilder’s KO win over Dominic Breazeale was one of many factors that affected him during his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.

On May 18, the American WBC champion blitzed his mandatory challenger inside three minutes to retain his belt.

This gave Britain’s WBA, IBF and WBO king with a lot to live up to as he arrived for his US debut in the same city two weeks later.

The bout began in calm fashion for AJ, as he attempted to figure out his opponent in a quiet opening two rounds.

However he has now explained why things exploded into life in round three as he floored Ruiz before then being put down twice himself.

“In the second round I heard the crowd booing,” Joshua told JD Sports, admitting he didn’t know the true reason for this at the time.

“Someone [later] told me there was a fight going on in the arena, that’s why.

“Debut in New York, crowd’s booing. Especially before, Wilder had knocked out Breazeale in the first round, I’m fighting two weeks after so let’s go and handle business.

“I don’t wanna let the people down.”

Joshua’s reckless round three brought about his downfall as he was hit with a left hook from which he never fully recovered while trying to finish Ruiz.

By the seventh, he went down a further two times and was stopped.

Regardless, he is still confident ahead of the rematch and continued: “If you put me and Ruiz in a machine, nine times out of ten I should beat him.

“That was just his night. He got the win and we get to do it again at the end of the year.”