LONDON: Briton Anthony Joshua said the victory over Andy Ruiz Jr on Sunday had left him ‘tired and drained’.
Joshua regained the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO titles with a unanimous points victory in Saudi Arabia, six months after he was sensationally dethroned by Ruiz at Madison Square Gardens.
“I had some issue with my health which I was going through for a long time,” said Joshua after judges scored the ‘Clash on the Dunes’ 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
Joshua did not elaborate on the nature of the operation.
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I felt so tired and drained and thought it must be down to training.
“In the changing room before the fight (in New York) I got a bucket of ice and was putting my head in it thinking ‘why do I feel so tired?’”.
He will defend his title of his second stint as world champion when he faces either unbeaten Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, the WBO’s mandatory challenger, or Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev — the mandatory challenger for the IBF.
Joshua said he wanted his next fight to be held in London, with his promoter Eddie Hearn suggesting Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium as a likely venue.
“Wembley doesn’t look great, date-wise,” Hearn said. “Tottenham Hotspur is a nice new stadium. We’ve got to look at it.” “We spoke to Spurs about hosting this fight, which they were keen to do, but unfortunately the dates didn’t work out.”
