The Watford-born boxer is no longer undefeated
Anthony Joshua took to social media to congratulate Andy Ruiz Jr after a seventh-round stoppage brought the 29-year-old’s unblemished professional record to an abrupt end at Madison Square Garden.
In the aftermath of the fight that saw him floored four times before it was finally ended, Joshua had talked about how he would “return”, with a rematch for his titles already on the cards for later this year.
“I got beaten by a good fighter,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey.
“He’s a champion for now, I shall return.”
And in his first social media post in the wake of the defeat, Joshua congratulated Ruiz on becoming the first boxer of Mexican descent to become a world heavyweight champion.
He wrote: “This is Andy’s night, congratulations Champ,” adding a Mexican flag emoji.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByMgsx-FYtw/
A number of people commented on the classiness of the message considering the pummeling he had taken in the ring.
The Rock said: “Class act. You’ll be back even better brother.”
While world strongest man, Eddie Hall, commented: “Respect, everyone has a bad day at the office! Pure class from AJ.”
Not everyone was as kind about Joshua in the aftermath of the fight, though. While his longterm verbal sparring partner, Tyson Fury, offered a message of consolation, Deontay Wilder used the opportunity to lay into the British fighter.
The WBC heavyweight champion tweeted: “He wasn’t a true champion.
“His whole career was [sic] consisted of lies, contradictions and gifts. Facts.
“And now we know who was running from who!”
Later adding: “The worst thing you can do in life is Fucking Quit!!”
