Exclusive: 'Anthony Joshua will never be the same again', says promoter Bob Arum

Promoter Bob Arum has said it is “insane, silly, the dumbest thing” for dethroned heavyweight ­Anthony Joshua to be having a ­rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr for the three belts the Briton lost nine days ago in Manhattan.

An immediate rematch anyway, which is expected to be in Cardiff in November or December, or even back at Madison Square Garden, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Joshua was felled four times by Ruiz, with the fight stopped by the referee in the seventh round. “It’s not something I would have predicted,” said Arum, who promoted Ruiz for several fights. “Andy is a pretty good fighter. He has fast hands and quick feet. But he has absolutely no punch.

“He was in with a lot of guys who couldn’t spell fight, and he beat them, but he couldn’t knock them out. The fact he knocked out a fighter like Joshua, who I had seen on television and in person against Joseph Parker, it shocked me.

“Andy Ruiz is a lovely guy, but he’s no Wladimir Klitschko. If Joshua was able to survive Klitschko, who can punch, and knock him out, how the hell does Ruiz beat him? Unless it wasn’t Joshua in the ring. Now that’s something that can happen. Maybe he didn’t train hard enough. Maybe he suffered an injury. When something like this happens, there may never be that Joshua again.”