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Anthony Joshua Losing His 0 Was the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Him in Boxing!

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By Roy “The Body Snatcher” Skillen

When Andy Ruiz, JR. stepped in to the ring against the chiselled, Greek God looking, unbeaten Adonis Anthony Joshua nobody gave him a chance. You had a couple of experts saying that Ruiz, JR. would be a tough challenge for AJ, but they would still end that conversation by letting the world know that they fully expected the Englishman to keep hold of his world title belts. We all know what happened next and when the ref waved off the bout with Joshua having hit the deck four times the Ruiz, JR. win was seen as one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.

The aftermath for AJ was tough. People wrote him off and said he should retire, but for what reason? Let’s be straight about it, he got caught on the temple by a world class fighter weighing 260lbs. It’s a blow that would have any heavyweight in the world struggling and it’s one of those things that can happen at any moment of any fight, especially in the heavyweight division, just ask the great Lennox Lewis. But contrary to what many fans thought and how the Mayweather, JR. effect has changed boxing, losing his 0, looks to have been the best thing that could have happened to him.

I am not even talking about his comeback win, where he out boxed Ruiz, JR. in the rematch to regain his belts. I am not even talking about his new found focus for the game. I am talking a shift in his mentality that is seeing him look to take on the biggest fights as soon as possible.

For the past few years there has been an ongoing saga between Deontay Wilder and Joshua as they both duck and dive the potential bout with neither willing to give in on their thoughts of who should get paid the most out of the two. But something interesting has happened. Anthony Joshua has lost his 0 and all of a sudden he isn’t scared. There’s nothing to lose any more and only massive things to gain.

“Everyone wants Wilder to win because [a fight with me] is what everyone wants to see,” said Joshua in a recent interview. “

Wilder has a great right hand, I have a great left hand. It is a great boxing match. We had a meeting about that. It has great potential. I heard [Wilder and Fury] have a third fight lined up towards the end of the year but we have to throw a curveball in there.”

This comes on the back of him and promoter Eddie Hearn saying that they would be willing to split the purse 50 – 50 to make sure the bout takes place.

First Joshua has to get past his mandatory clash with Olyksandr Usyk, but it now seems that he is man in hurry to build a legacy based on something real and not the 0 that has become the be all and end all for far too many fighters.

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