Dereck Chisora has backed former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to reverse the result of his shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in their immediate rematch.
Joshua lost his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles to Mexican-American Ruiz Jr by seventh round knockout at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 1.
The result was considered a major boilover, but Chisora is confident that Joshua can return to form when the pair meet again later this year on a date to be announced.
“There is nothing else to do other than the rematch,” said Chisora to The Independent. “He has to go straight back in. What else is he going to do? And he wins the rematch. He just had one bad day in the office.
“If you don’t have your gameplan right, as a big man against a little man, you are in trouble.
“It’s easier for a smaller man to come up than it is for a big man to go down, but I think Joshua’s comeback will be amazing.”
Chisora admits he misread the fight when Ruiz Jr was announced as the replacement for Jarrell Miller, who failed three drug tests and was axed as the opponent for Joshua’s vaunted US debut.
“I wrote the Mexican off, I said in an interview on Mexican TV that Eddie Hearn should be arrested because he should be done for manslaughter. I told them to call the police and send someone to jail,” the 35-year-old heavyweight contender said.
“The same channel then tried to interview me after the fight, so I ran off.”
Chisora still holds hopes of winning a world championship and says Ruiz Jr’s victory has helped him with his arduous training under coach Dave Coldwell in Rotherham.
“It’s exciting to be anyone right now, ripped, skinny or fat, everyone is just excited,” Chisora said.
“What happened in New York is why boxing is amazing, the unexpected happens, it’s crazy and why we love it.
“Right now I need patience with Dave, grinding it down and working on a snappy jab, the rest will follow. But I only lasted four nights in the Holiday Inn in Rotherham where Tony Bellew used to stay.
“I called him two weeks ago and said ‘How the hell did you do it?’ Bellew told me: ‘The only way I did was becoming a member in the cinema across the road and seeing two films a day’. That’s how boring it is. Just training, eating and rest. I just watch Netflix.”
