The promoter of the former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua – Eddie Hearn denied the rumors “AJ” got shooked in sparring sessions before his fight with Andy Ruiz Jr.
Earlier WBN stated that the Brit got knocked down by his sparring partner Joey Dawejko (19-7-4), a 28-years-old pro boxer from the US. A couple of days prior to the fight Joshua was seen with a bruise under his left eye, but when asked he asked it was a “physio stuff”.
Joey Dawejko: Charles Martin victim who KO'd Anthony Joshua in sparring – https://t.co/396Zi4Ybnv pic.twitter.com/d8u82fB9e5
— Boxing News Now (@Boxing_NewsNow) June 4, 2019
Hearn was quick to put down the rumours insisting everything went well in the preparations for his titles defense. Replying to a fan who claimed Joshua had suffered a panic attack in the locker room, Hearn replied:
“Panic attack? I’ve heard all sorts of rumours – there was no issue at all going into the fight. He lost fair and square – now it’s time to get those belts back.”
WBN initially claimed a different fighter, Agit Kabayel, had been responsible for knocking down AJ in sparring, but Hearn shot that down immediately, saying: ‘He wasn’t even in camp.’
BREAKING: @EddieHearn tells Sky Sports News that the new opponent for @AnthonyFJoshua will be announced early next week subject to the result of Jarrell Miller's 'B' sample. #SSNhttps://t.co/d1ED9oLOBQ pic.twitter.com/iLxQoUwWsb
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 18, 2019
On why Joshua was delayed entering the ring, he added:
“He changed his groin guard. I’d also like to tell you he had a terrible camp, he wasn’t focused, but I didn’t see that.
He worked very hard in training as he always does. I think it was a huge shock for everybody, AJ was probably the calmest person of everybody.I even said to him today, “People said you didn’t look right.” and he replied: “I was fine, I just got beat, I just got beat by the better man on the night, I got hit by a shot that I didn’t recover from and that’s it. Let’s go again, back to work.”
