Anthony Joshua has admitted that “in hindsight”, he would not have let Andy Ruiz Jr pose with the world heavyweight championship belts before their fight.
Joshua allowed Ruiz Jr to playfully hold the IBF, WBA and WBO gold two days prior to his defence and then lost the titles and his unbeaten record in a major shock.
“In hindsight, I would probably tell my fighter, as a psychological thing: ‘don’t give them away’.
“I always said previously that the belts didn’t represent me. I was responsible, and a champion, before I had those belts.
“The belts can’t dictate who I am, as a man. The belts can go but I still have a championship mind-set.
“Boxing means, to me, more than the belts. Boxing is about building a championship mindset,” Joshua said on AJ: The Untold Truth.
A rematch is on the cards in December with Saudi Arabia agreed as venue.
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