Eddie Hearn has opened up about the confrontation in the ring with Anthony Joshua’s father Robert in the aftermath of the now-former heavyweight champion’s shock knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 1.
The Matchroom Boxing boss has revealed he was worried Robert was going to ‘chin’ him after watching his son hit the mat four times before surrendering his IBF, WBA and WBO titles to Ruiz Jr in the seventh round.
Joshua’s father was shown yelling at Hearn immediately after the fight are rumours have been abounding ever since as to the reason behind his words.
“We don’t talk, like ever, and it was a bit of a shock and at the time, I was looking at (Joshua’s Dad) and thinking ‘He might chin me now!’,” Hearn told iFL TV.
“It was one of those things where he was about to chin me, and I was thinking let’s just talk after because I didn’t want that kind of situation in the ring.”
In the wake of Joshua’s surprise loss there has been speculation that AJ suffered a panic attack in the changeroom before the fight or that he was knockout out in sparring and that this was the reason for Robert’s post-fight outburst.
Hearn denied these rumours and said that Robert was hellbent on picking a fight with anyone he could find.
“He was gunning for everybody but unfortunately I got copped on TV. He said he was unhappy with the house, the set-up of the house, with the referee, a whole load of stuff,” Hearn said.
“Then when I went round the back he started again and Josh went just said ‘Dad, it’s me, it’s on me, I lost, no one else’s fault’. That was all that was said.”
Joshua had enacted his immediate rematch cause with the return bout expected to take place in November or December with London’s Wembley Stadium, Principality Stadium in Cardiff and Tottenham’s new £1 billion state-of-the-art arena all in the running to host the bout.
