![]() It is a friendship and that kicks in straight away." Seeing someone you know well not looking at 100%, there is huge concern. "You can't have a mentality where you prepare for that, so everyone is kind of dealing with it at that current time," says Cunningham. His long-term manager Freddie Cunningham is standing over him with concern etched on his face. Joshua, beaten, is on one knee in the corner of the ring. You can become numb to the drama, but there was a little bit of disbelief." ![]() "I've seen so much in boxing - injuries, tragedy, ups and downs. "I felt numb really," promoter Eddie Hearn tells BBC Sport. He is exposed and isolated as millions watch an iconic shock play out. Every time Joshua hits the canvas photographers lift cameras next to the ring, some within jabbing distance of his head. As the drama unfolds, the former world heavyweight champion is the only man rising and falling more frequently than his humbled compatriot in the ring.Ī third and fourth knockdown come in the seventh. He intermittently shouts "come on AJ" in spurts, but for the most part, he is frozen, like most around him.ĭavid Haye cannot sit down, much to the frustration of the reporter sitting behind him. In the opposite corner, seconds before round seven, Robles tells Ruiz: "You know you got him hurt now, so start going for the head."īritish entertainer James Corden is open-mouthed at ringside. "If you hit him you will slow him right down," Joshua is told by his trainer Rob McCracken. The testers may be on to something because Ruiz is swiftly floored, only to rise and drop Joshua twice by the end of round three. "All the testers were watching the Joshua fight on the TV and joking, saying: 'I think this one will be over quicker than your fight,'" he tells BBC Sport. Before the fans in the arena can see him, he reminds himself of key instructions, saying: "Base, head movement and throwing calmly." Joshua, now 30, was making his US debut at a venue often dubbed the 'Mecca of boxing'īackstage, Callum Smith is being drug-tested after retaining his world title in three rounds. This is, after all, pay-per-view and some extra fat does little to convince punters of a competitive bout.Īs the fight nears, the underdog prays in his dressing room. Twenty-four hours earlier, by way of contrast, some people with money to make from the fight hoped the rotund Ruiz would keep his shirt on for the weigh-in. Joshua's statuesque frame is splashed across the billboards dominating the side of the arena. Ruiz's name isn't even on some of the tickets held by fans queuing outside Madison Square Garden because he is a late stand-in to replace Joshua's original opponent, Jarrell Miller. But their triumph will be knocked off top spot on the biggest sports websites within hours because of drama few can yet see coming. Liverpool have just won football's Champions League in an all-English final. Here, in the week before the pair meet in a much-anticipated rematch, BBC Sport takes you behind the scenes of 1 June, with the help of some of those involved. The night that gave him such status - as he humbled the undefeated Joshua - was one of shock and panic. Two weeks later, he was on his best behaviour, sitting alongside the president of Mexico, lauded as a national hero. That carefree attitude would prove his greatest asset in the days that followed, as the masses wrote him off. The week of the first Joshua v Ruiz fight had started with the laid-back Mexican outsider spitting off the rooftop terrace of a Manhattan building while waiting for an interview to begin. Joshua's best friend, David Ghansa, wipes away tears. ![]() A short walk away, in his Madison Square Garden dressing room, Anthony Joshua is told by his father that he must "go back to the drawing board".
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