Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been urged to change his tactics to avoid another stoppage at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr.
Tyson Fury’s cutman Jorge Capetillo, who is a close friend of Ruiz, believes AJ did one fundamental thing wrong in the first bout.
Capetillo, a hero of Fury’s recent win, says Joshua has to use his legs to stay out of range.
In June, Joshua went gung-ho in the New York battle at Madison Square Garden. The soon-to-be 30 year-old fully admitted underestimating Ruiz.
The Olympic gold medalist went straight for the knockout himself and was duly punished.
Down four times, Joshua relinquished his world title belts in what was his United States debut.
The pair will rematch in Saudi Arabia on December 7th, but Capetillo fears a repeat could be on the cards.
Jorge Capetillo speaks to World Boxing News
“I’ll be honest. I think he’s a good friend because I trained with Andy a few years ago. I said to Tyson before the first fight, ‘listen, if he doesn’t box Andy with his legs and move around, he’s going to get knocked out,'” Capetillo explained to World Boxing News.
“I’m going to say it again. If Anthony doesn’t move around and keep his long distance, he will get knocked out again.”
Capetillo elaborated on his thoughts: “One thing that Andy has is he can take a punch. As you see, he went down and got up to fight.
“He can take a punch, and he has fast hands. Andy won’t knock out Anthony with one punch. He’s going to throw four, five or six punches.
Anthony Joshua must change
“If Anthony doesn’t box, move around the ring, and try to keep the distance from Andy, he will get knocked out again.”
On the last time he spoke to Andy, Jorge concluded: “I saw Andy on the week of the fight. He’s a good friend of mine, I love him.
“We’ve got a beautiful friendship. We love each other.”
Ruiz can cement his place as a significant heavyweight player by defeating Joshua for a second time.
Should he complete a remarkable success story, Ruiz will be pushed towards an undisputed bout with Deontay Wilder in 2020.
Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay.
