Anthony Joshua: The Art of Bouncing Back
Even though the date and venue remain dubiously up in the air, one thing that is certain. Anthony “AJ” Joshua and Andy Ruiz are ready and willing to get it on again. At different points, from their own corners of the globe, both fighters have repeatedly expressed their desire stage a rematch. Ruiz would love to prove that his domination was no fluke.
The haunted Joshua seriously wants to prove that it was. In a recent interview conducted by IFL TV, the UK superstar delved a bit deeper into his desire for get-back.
In the segment, Joshua provides some strange responses that paint himself in a less than favorable light. At the opening of the interview, Joshua sounded like an underpaid secretary who had lost the zeal for life. Obviously, he took the loss hard.
“I’m just trying to balance everything I do and relight that ball of energy where everything I do is not only with vision, but purpose. I’m not talking in rhymes and parables but it has meaning to me.
“So the ball of energy for me is just living life with meaning again and not just going through the motions. ‘Josh do that! Yes. Josh do that!’ What’s the meaning? What’s it going to affect and what’s the long term effect or positive reaction that this decision today has on my boxing?”
It’s unfortunate to hear that he had been just going through the motions. If being the most belt carrying champion, the jewel of a nation, in the prime of his career and all the while staring undisputed and global domination in the face was not enough to keep AJ focused, or happy, what could?
Yet, to be optimistic, Joshua is declaring a rekindling of his internal fire and wants to restore his championship status.
“I had little stumbling block recently and in ten years it’ll have more meaning, but right now I have purpose of my fight with Ruiz.”
Although even having undergone this difficulty, Joshua is still the same jovial nice guy. He harbors no regret in allowing Ruiz to hold his belts as he did in the previous pre-fight hype. Yet, AJ let it be known that even nice guys have their limits. He is aware that that the new champion has been talking about him.
Although Ruiz hasn’t said anything over the top greasy, he’s been talking loud enough. Ruiz is known to be fond of calling AJ a robot, and has even started including the robot emoji in all of his social media posts revolving around Joshua. AJ just uses it all as fuel for the fire.
“The smack talk is only going to make him, he’s only digging his own grave because it’s a different kind of thing now. You know what I mean? Yeah, I took my L and I handled it like a man, but I want to show people the art of bounce back. I want to show people the art of bouncing back and that’s what this fight means to me.”
It’ll be interesting to see is Joshua can snatch back his throne and usurped glory. If so, especially on the road, it truly would be a remarkable feat and undeniable evidence that he had slain the psychological demons that Ruiz loosed upon him.
Even if Joshua lost a thriller, he would go a long way to restoring his previously unblemished namesake. However, if Joshua was dominated again, or stopped in worse devastating fashion, his career would certainly be launched into a gloomy limbo. Returning from two back to back losses would be no easy proposition. But this is why they fight the fights.
3kingsboxing will continue to provide the latest updates on this upcoming bout.
By: Bakari Simpson
