Chisora Teases 'Big' Secret Behind Joshua's Shock Ruiz Loss

Derek Chisora has thrown a fresh log on one of boxing's most-picked-over fires. Speaking on the Fight Your Corner Podcast, the 36-14 heavyweight veteran claims there was something seriously wrong with Anthony Joshua before he walked out at Madison Square Garden in June 2019 — the night AJ lost his unified titles to Andy Ruiz Jr, a late replacement who took the fight on four weeks' notice.

Chisora wouldn't spell it out, but he didn't undersell it either. He said the issue was bigger than fans realise, and that Joshua himself will eventually tell the story — likely on Netflix, in his own time. Until then, Chisora is keeping the details to himself. Whatever it was, it landed in the same ring where Joshua, then 22-0, suffered the first four knockdowns of his career and got stopped in the seventh.

The Fight Nobody Saw Coming

The setup for that night reads like a warning label. Joshua was supposed to face Jarrell Miller on his US debut until 'Big Baby' failed multiple PED tests. Enter Ruiz, a heavy underdog written off as a soft touch. Joshua even dropped him in the third — and then Ruiz got up, caught him clean on the temple, and rewrote the heavyweight division in about 90 seconds.

The rumours have swirled ever since. A pre-fight panic attack in the changing room, which Joshua denied. A sparring injury or a knockout in camp, which was never confirmed. Chisora's comments don't confirm any of it, but they do add a name and a nudge to a story that's refused to die for seven years.

Why It Still Matters

Joshua avenged the loss six months later to reclaim the belts, and plenty of observers argue he's fought more cautiously since. His career has taken a strange turn: now 29-4 (26 KO) and unranked, his most recent outing was a sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul — a crossover bout that tells you how far the heavyweight landscape has drifted.

The timing isn't accidental either. Joshua is reportedly in line to return to MSG for the first time since the Ruiz nightmare, with a long-teased showdown against Tyson Fury — the #3 heavyweight at 36-2-1 (25 KO) — linked to either the Garden or Wembley. If Chisora's hint holds up, AJ may address that 2019 collapse just as he prepares to close the biggest chapter British boxing never got to write.