Joshua ready to rumble
Joshua’s all fired up for his shot at redemption
ANTHONY JOSHUA once begged for a second chance in life – now he is hoping to take his second chance in the ring.
Joshua knows he cannot afford to mess up his shot at redemption against Andy Ruiz on Saturday, when he will try to win back the WBA, IBF and WBO titles he surprisingly lost to him in June.
But he will dig deep, drawing on the experience of how he turned his life around to put him on the road to becoming a global superstar.
Joshua was on remand and facing drug possession charges while a promising GB Boxing amateur.
But in the end boxing gave him a path to salvation.
He said: “When I went into boxing I was getting into a lot of trouble and facing a major court case.
‘‘I beat the court case and I prayed, ‘God, if you give me a second chance at life I will make all the changes in the world.’
‘‘After that, I got into boxing and I focused. Same thing with Ruiz, give me a second chance and see what I can do.
“When I had that second chance at life, when I was getting in trouble, I dedicated myself and I said that I would put myself on a 15-year prison sentence to boxing and have that focus.”
Joshua looks more focused this time, after his shock defeat to Ruiz – the first, and he hopes last, of his professional career.
He arrived in the Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh 10 days ago to finish his preparations and acclimatise.
This is a new territory for heavyweight boxing but also a new situation for Joshua, and not just in terms of the
from CHRIS McKENNA in Riyadh
location. The Watford warrior has been a star since he won super-heavyweight gold at London 2012.
And while there was pressure on his shoulders as British boxing’s biggest name, collecting world honours in the pro ranks, he has never had to face harsh criticism.
Joshua added: “Not everyone’s going to love you and that’s just how it goes, but I’ve lost before (in the amateurs), I’ve lost a few times and I just keep on going.
“One loss can’t strip your skin off overnight. When you put your solid foundations in, one chip in the brick can’t destroy the whole building.”
Joshua says he has watched the Ruiz defeat many times since that disastrous night at Madison Square Garden when he was floored four times before being stopped in the seventh round.
But he feels he is still a work in progress and cites the development of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez as a closer image of him than someone naturally gifted like Vasyl Lomachenko.
“I am getting better all the time,” he said.
“You have someone like Lomachenko, who is great, but then you have some fighters who get better with every fight like Canelo.
‘‘He is someone who improves with every fight – and that is what I am.”