Tyson Fury knew Anthony Joshua would lose to Andy Ruiz Jr during the ring walk after spotting Brit boxer ‘looking cold’
TYSON FURY has claimed he knew Anthony Joshua would lose to Andy Ruiz Jr during the RING WALK after spotting his Brit rival "looking cold".
25-1 underdog Ruiz produced one of the greatest ever shocks in boxing when he floored AJ three times on the way to a stunning seventh-round KO win in New York back in June.
On December 7 in Diriyah Saudi Arabia, the deposed champion gets his shot at redemption and the chance to win back the world titles.
And while Fury has backed AJ to beat Ruiz Jr so they can finally have an all-British battle, the Gypsy King revealed his money was on the Mexican during their first bout.
In an interview with The Times, the 31-year-old had expected his compatriot to retain his belts "quite comfortably, but that changed when (he) saw him making his walk to the ring".
He said: "Both Ben and myself immediately felt that there was something not quite right because Joshua looked cold, and by that I mean that there wasn’t a bit of sweat on his body.
"Before any fight, as a boxer you go through such a good warm-up that there’s sweat glistening from your body as you leave the dressing room.
"But that wasn’t the case with Joshua. He looked nervous; he looked like he didn’t want to be there. And after previously thinking that he would win on points, I turned to the lads and said, ‘He’s going to get knocked out.’
Joshua looked cold, and by that I mean that there wasn’t a bit of sweat on his body. He looked nervous; he looked like he didn’t want to be there.
Tyson Fury
"This was the first time Joshua was in a big fight away from his home country and when that happens you react in one of two ways – you either feel out of your comfort zone and shrink, or you rise to the occasion.
"If you’re totally confident in your ability you’d be happy fighting in outer space.
"When I go to the ring, I’m there to fight, no matter what is in my way – it’s as simple as that. I bring my heart to the ring every time. But in New York against Ruiz, it just seemed like Joshua had left his heart back in the dressing room.
"Joshua was a 1/25 favourite and he knocked Ruiz down in the third round. But then in one of the all-time biggest shocks, Joshua himself went down twice in the same round before being knocked down repeatedly again in round seven when he was stopped on his feet, having spat out his gumshield after hitting the canvas.
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"As the referee waved it off, a few of us jumped and shouted, ‘He quit! He quit!’ He seemed to have given in. It was shocking to see the way the fight ended.
"To me, it was no surprise that Joshua struggled to recover after being put down, because any time he has been hit in his career that has been the case. But this time he seemed happy to lose.
"That’s something that I can’t comprehend, a concept that’s alien to me because I’m not bred that way – there’s no quit in me. The little fat guy beat the body beautiful and the heavyweight division was turned upside down."
