Andy Ruiz believes that Anthony Joshua looked scared during his shattering defeat to Oleskandr Usyk in London.
Joshua lost his unified heavyweight world titles after struggling to cope with a scintillating display of speed and technique from the Ukrainian.
And the defeat is Joshua's second professional dent on his record, having been defeated by Ruiz in a mesmerising affair in Madison Square Garden.
But his former opponent believes he looked scared in the ring against Usyk, and did not impose his powerful style along the distance.
“You can’t blame everybody,” said Ruiz Jr. “Every fighter has got to take responsibility for themselves. It was probably the wrong strategy, and he [Joshua] probably underestimated him like I did with Chris Arreola.
“But we both got caught, but thank God, I pursued and got the W. I think Anthony Joshua is still there and still strong.
‘He kind of felt scared and was holding back a little bit. Maybe it was the lefty of Usyk of his style and how he moves. I thought they both could have done better, but congratulations to Usyk.
“He [Joshua] just stayed there; he wasn’t moving around and doing the same thing with me in the second fight with me. He ran around to make sure he didn’t get hit, and if he did, he would grab and move around. So he had a strategy. But for this fight [with Usyk], it didn’t go his way.
“It’s crazy because I thought Anthony Joshua was going to beat Usyk. I thought Anthony was going to be the stronger man, and I thought he was going to box him around and use his abilities."
Joshua managed to avenge his first career defeat to Ruiz, with a punch-perfect boxing display on a huge night in Saudi Arabia.
Will Joshua bounce back in the rematch with Usyk? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below.
And he will get the opportunity to pursue another turnaround, when he aims to become three-time world champion next year in a rematch.
But American promoter Bob Arum is unsure that Joshua is making the correct decision taking the rematch, and has offered him a step-aside offer to let Tyson Fury face Usyk.
"No I don’t," Arum replied when asked by IFLTV if he believes Joshua has a chance in the rematch. "And I think Joshua would be well off if somehow he was able to take another couple of fights before the rematch with Usyk.
"If people were sensible, Joshua would work out an agreement. If Tyson Fury is successful with Wilder, to allow Usyk to fight Tyson Fury and to have each fighter contractually agree in his next fight – whether it’s Usyk or Fury – to fight the winner.
"That will be an additional defeat on Joshua’s record and prevent him from what I think would be a massive fight against the unified champion. Usyk fights Tyson Fury, or Wilder. And [Joshua] fights the winner. And then we’re into something that the public can make sense of."
Joshua's chances of an undisputed clash with Fury appear to be fading, with the 'Gypsy King's' promoter Frank Warren ruling out the clash happening soon.
