Joshua: My uncle predicted Ruiz’s defeat in 2014

Anthony Joshua’s uncle labelled Andy Ruiz Jr as an “upset king” five years ago.

The British superstar has vowed to bounce back after he was dethroned by the 25-1 outsider in New York on June 1.

Joshua’s defeat to the 19st Mexican-American came as one of the biggest shocks in boxing history.The Watford bruiser was decked four times before referee Mike Griffin eventually waved the fight off before the end of the seventh round.

But in 2014, AJ’s uncle predicted that Ruiz Jr would cause a stir in the heavyweight division.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Joshua said: “I remember years ago my uncle wrote out a list of all the heavyweights and next to Andy Ruiz Jr he wrote ‘upset king’ believe it or not.


“This was around 2014 he gave me that list.”

AJ has claimed that he got hit so hard during the fight that he did not know where he was. The former WBO, WBA and IBF champion added: “I couldn’t even really remember where I was at the time but I just knew that I was in for a fight.

“I knew that I should be here [on the canvas], so I just got to my feet and we went again.

“Ruiz done well, hit me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover from it and that was it.”