Anthony Joshua Won't Be 'Celebrity' In Andy Ruiz Rematch, De La Hoya Says

Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya believes Anthony Joshua will be serious with Andy Ruiz rematch and will not be a “celebrity.”

The Ruiz vs. Joshua rematch has been the most talked-about fight in the heavyweight division these days. Last month, heavyweight boxing legend Lennox Lewis mentioned that Joshua made the fight with Ruiz easy as he wasn’t fully in the fight “mentally.”

While it is still unclear whether the Britis boxer really had some issues mentally during the first fight with Ruiz, De La Hoya believes that Joshua has already “readjusted” his gameplan coming into the rematch.

In a media scrum with Fight Hub TV, De La Hoya stated that Joshua may have gotten his head straight and will be more serious with boxing this time.

“He’s a guy who maybe had readjusted his gameplan,” De La Hoya said about Joshua.

More importantly, the boxing icon thinks that Joshua will set his “celebrity” status aside when he finally meet Ruiz inside the boxing ring again.

“Maybe (Joshua) went back to the gym and said ‘Ok, let me get serious about boxing, and not be a celebrity’,” De La Hoya predicted.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn had a different perspective about his fighter’s mentality. In a press conference in Dubai, Hearn revealed that Joshua never wanted to fight Ruiz and has had his eyes locked on WBC Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder, Gulf News reported.

“I think he was disillusioned with the sport because he wanted to fight Deontay Wilder,” Hearn said.

However, Hearn is confident that the Ruiz vs. Joshua rematch won’t be about redeeming Joshua’s boxing reputation. According to Hearn, Joshua will be more fueled by the thought that only Ruiz beat him clean in his stellar career.

“I think the great thing about this promotion is that now, for the first time next week, he looks a man in the eyes who is the only man to beat him as a professional,” Hearn pointed.

Former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi also thinks that Joshua will come stronger both mentally and physically in the rematch, Boxing Scene noted.

“Joshua will come with a mentally stronger game plan and physically he'll obviously come with a stronger game plan," Malignaggi said.

Malignaggi even recalled how Joshua impressed him during the Wladimir Klitschko fight. He said that the British boxer’s mentality in the said fight was much bigger than his physical abilities.

“To me that was impressive. Not because of physically stopping Klitschko, but what he did because of mentally - stabilising himself in such a storm ,” Malignaggi recalled.