Joshua’s dad blamed me for son’s defeat–Hearn opens up

Eddie Hearn lifted the lid on the extraordinary confrontation with Anthony Joshua’s father Robert in the wake of the shock defeat by Andy Ruiz.

The promoter feared he was about to be ‘chinned’ by Robert in the Madison Square Garden ring as all hell broke loose following the Mexican’s seventh-round stoppage.

AJ’s father was incensed and footage showed him yelling at Hearn, who has revealed all about the incident.

‘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!’

‘It was one of those things where he was about to chin me, and I was thinking lets just talk after because I didn’t want that kind of situation in the ring,’ he told iFL TV.

Rumours abounded about the primary reason for Robert’s furious reaction with some claiming AJ had a panic attack in the dressing room and others saying he suffered a heavy knock down in sparring and should not have stepped into the ring.

But Hearn flatly denied the speculation and went on to add that Robert was simply taking aim at anyone he could.

‘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.

‘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,’ Hearn added.

The Matchroom Boxing boss also went on to say that he doesn’t have any kind of relationship with Robert aside from a ‘cuddle’ and ‘thank you’ after fights that Joshua wins.

Read Also: Joshua’s’ dad stopped from fighting Hearn after Ruiz defeat

Evidently emotions were running extremely high after watching his son lose to the massive Mexican underdog and suffering a mighty career set back.