Anthony Joshua's heavyweight rival Joe Joyce has declared that the former world champion has "obviously changed" after suffering his first defeat back in 2019.
The two-time world heavyweight champion had been dropped by Wladimir Klitschko on his way to becoming unified champion, but had never lost a professional fight before facing Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 2019. He was put down multiple times before being stopped by Ruiz in a shocking defeat, and has gone 2-2 since.
Joshua did win his belts back from Ruiz in a slow-paced show of boxing skill when they rematched a few months later, and defended them once during the coronavirus lockdown era against Kubrat Pulev. But he was defeated in September of 2021 by former undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk in two underwhelming outings.
