2nd June, 2019
Tyson Fury offered an olive branch to dethroned former world champion Anthony Joshua after watching his heavyweight rival suffer the first defeat of his career against Andy Ruiz Jr.
In one of the most stunning upsets in heavyweight boxing history, Joshua lost his WBA, WBO and IBF titles to the man who took the fight at just five weeks’ notice, having replaced Jarrell Miller after his failed drugs tests.
Despite knocking Ruiz to the canvas 45 seconds into the third round, Joshua was floored twice before the bell rang as the Mexican-American mounted an incredible comeback.
Joshua was able to negotiate the fourth, fifth and sixth without any further scares, but come the seventh Ruiz went on the attack again, and after two knockdowns inside the first minute, Joshua failed to respond to referee Mike Griffin’s commands, giving him no option than to wave off the fight.
The defeat inflicts Joshua’s first professional loss and causes a major setback in his plans to face Deontay Wilder and Fury, but his fellow-Briton refused to rub salt in the round after watching Joshua’s defeat.
Instead, Fury sent Joshua a warm-hearted message hoping for him to recover from the setback, adding that “these things happen” in the unpredictable nature that is heavyweight boxing.
“We have our back and Forth’s but @anthonyfjoshua changed his stars through life,” Fury wrote on Twitter. “Heavyweight boxing, these things happen, rest up, recover, regroup and come again.”
While the loss is far from ideal for Joshua, it is not disastrous in terms of fighting Fury or Wilder sometime down the line. With Wilder committed to a rematch with Luis Ortiz in September, Fury facing Tom Schwarz in a fortnight’s time and the two agreeing a 2020 rematch if they both come through unscathed, the likelihood is that Joshua would not get a crack at either of them until late 2020 at the earlier.
Instead, the dethroned champion will seek a rematch against Ruiz in Britain – thanks to a clause inserted in their contract – in an effort to win back his titles, though he will have plenty of reflecting to do after being so comprehensively beaten by someone who was supposed to be a last-minute replacement.