Eddie Hearn did not mince words when talking about the way Anthony Joshua performed in the last five rounds of his unified heavyweight title loss to Andy Ruiz Jr.
In a post-fight interview with DAZN, Hearn gave his thoughts on the fight and admitted that the series of punches Ruiz threw in the third round to initially drop Joshua was a fantastic one. Although he believed Joshua was performing well in the fight right before Ruiz, Hearn said Joshua got sloppy as soon as Ruiz recovered from the lone knockdown the British fighter scored prior to Ruiz's dominant performance in the last few rounds of the fight.
“AJ got sloppy. It was a beautiful combination in the third round. He was in total control of the fight but he got sloppy and never recovered. Listen, [last night] was his night but AJ will come back 100 percent and we will make the rematch in the U.K. in November or December. But this night now belongs to Andy Ruiz, he made history in the heavyweight division tonight. It will go down in history as a very big one," Hearn said.
After Joshua survived two knockdowns in the third round, he was not able to mount a meaningful comeback and was dropped twice more in the seventh round, leading to Joshua being stopped. The win gave Ruiz the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweights, one title short (the WBC title being held by Deontay Wilder) to being considered the undisputed champion.
With a rematch clause more than likely being enacted by Hearn and Joshua, Ruiz will be looked on more favorably as the favorite in a potential sequel against Joshua. Despite Ruiz emphatically beating Joshua by knocking him down four times throughout the fight, Hearn is confident that the now-former champion can win back his world titles in a rematch.
"AJ has the heart of a lion and will come back stronger. Now at least we know the opponent for the end of the year in the U.K. Absolutely we will enact the immediate rematch. He will be devastated when it sinks in. It makes the fall fight a must win," Hearn said.
Fightful had a live podcast after the fight ended dissecting Ruiz's historic upset win over Joshua as well as the rest of the main card which can be seen in the video below.