Anthony Joshua was highly touted by most ahead of his upset defeat, but there was one heavyweight who never saw eyes to eyes with AJ.
This came at a point where Joshua was praised as a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division, but it all changed just years later.
Following wins over Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker, and Alexander Povetkin, Joshua made his US debut in 2019. He was set to face Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, but after a series of failed drug tests, came face to face with Andy Ruiz Jr.
Anthony Joshua fires shots at Lennox Lewis after Andy Ruiz loss
In the fight, Ruiz dropped Joshua, who has six opponents in common with Tyson Fury, twice in the third round and twice in the seventh, before the ref waved off the fight, handing Joshua his first career defeat.
According to TalkSport, Lennox Lewis criticized Joshua’s performance against Ruiz, stating:
“Too many things went wrong in that fight to say he was properly prepared for Ruiz or the situation he found himself in,”
He continued: “AJ found himself asking questions with no answers. They couldn’t make the adjustments… I say you can’t go to university with your third-grade teacher.”
Joshua slammed Lewis’ comments in a Sky Sports interview, in which he said:
“Lennox is a clown. I don’t respect Lennox. Me and Lennox are not the same.”
He then commented on Lewis’ criticism of him, and his desire to make his opinion heard on rising fighters: “My legacy is to sit back and enjoy the younger generation coming up, and not to be involved.”
Lennox Lewis responds and Anthony Joshua doubles down
In response to Joshua, Lewis said:
“Disappointed in AJ’s words but I understand that this ‘jealousy’ narrative was only fabricated AFTER I criticised them for Wilder negotiations. All of a sudden I’m a hater.”
But instead of repairing their issues, Joshua only doubled down, with this brutal comment:
“A clown is a clown. He can wipe his make-up off, but his heart remains the same.”
Joshua did make the required adjustments and reclaimed his belts in his rematch with Ruiz, who punched his own trainer in the head once.