Anthony Joshua ‘drops’ several sparring partners ahead of Andy Ruiz Jr rematch

Anthony Joshua is like a ‘caged lion’, dropping several of his sparring partners in training, according to Timothy Moten.

Back in June, AJ was astonishingly floored four times and stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in the seventh round, losing both his unbeaten record and world heavyweight titles.

The Brit will attempt to avenge his loss in a highly-anticipated rematch in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

In preparation for the fight, Joshua has looked to replicate the style and size of Ruiz by sparring Moten, who is of a similar build.

The 5-0 (2 KOs) American has been at the EIS in Sheffield preparing with Joshua and has been impressed with what he has seen.

“There have been guys here, I don’t want to say any names, but I’ve seen guys come into camp, get blown away and get sent home that same week,” Moten told Daily Mail.

“He’s dropped a few of his sparring partners and he’s rocked a lot. Joshua is by far the hardest hitter I’ve been in the ring with.”

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn previously spoke of preparations being better second time around and felt Molten being in camp had benefited Joshua.

“Almost every session I ask him how he’s doing, what he’s thinking,” Moten added. “He says to me, ‘Ready, ready’. Mentally he is in a good place. I can see that in his eyes. He’s got a focus I’ve not seen.

Moten has been helping AJ to deal with the style of Ruiz
“He’s got that warrior’s spirit. His mentality is to destroy. He is like a focused, caged lion and when the time is right, he will unleash.

“There’s always a point in every Andy Ruiz fight where he reverts to that Mexican background and he is ready to bang, we saw that with Anthony Joshua in the first fight.

“When Joshua floored him, he was hurt and that Mexican style came out. Joshua has been sparring a Mexican heavyweight, Elvis Garcia, who is exactly the same.

“One time Garcia was hit with a big shot by Joshua in sparring and we all thought, ‘Wooh, is he out’, but then he came firing back at him, so Joshua is learning to keep his composure, move his head, keep his guard up high even if he lands hurtful shots.

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“And then on top of that he has other guys here to work with his speed and general sparring. He’s got a bunch of guys here that are just perfect, we all just work perfect when we are in there with him because everybody is pushing him and we are getting the best out of him and you’ll see the results on fight night.”