Eddie Hearn and Simon Jordan debate Anthony Joshua ‘quitting’ in Andy Ruiz loss

Eddie Hearn and Simon Jordan disagree on the ending of Anthony Joshua’s famous knockout loss to Andy Ruiz.

AJ was on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets ever when he was dropped four times en route to a shocking seventh-round stoppage defeat to Ruiz in June 2019.

Joshua got up off the floor every time, but ultimately the referee had seen enough and waved off the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight title bout.

On Tuesday, Hearn joined talkSPORT’s Jim White and Simon Jordan to discuss Joshua’s upcoming fight with IBF champion Daniel Dubios, which will take place on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.

The conversation got heated when the former Crystal Palace chairman accused Joshua of quitting in his lone KO loss.

Jordan said: “But he did quit against Ruiz, didn’t he?”

Hearn vehemently defended his star client from the allegation.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Absolutely not. I mean, he kept getting up.”

Jordan compared Joshua’s loss to Ruiz to the one Dubois suffered at the hands of Joe Joyce in 2020.

‘DDD’ took a knee and waited to be counted out after breaking his orbital bone.

Hearn replied: “When you quit, you take a knee, look at the referee in the eye and he says, ‘Eight, nine, ten.’ [Joshua] got up every time.”

Jordan believes that Joshua’s behaviour after the final Ruiz knockdown showed he didn’t want to fight on, but Hearn insists he was just trying to buy some time.

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The talkSPORT host said: “But he stood in the corner being asked the question by the referee and it was waved off.”

“He went back to his corner and was trying to get more time,” Hearn fired back. “The ref looked at him and said, ‘You’ve been down four times, the fight is over’.

“He had multiple opportunities to not get to his feet in that fight.

“When you get to your feet time and time again after four knockdowns, the last thing you are doing is quitting.”

Although they couldn’t agree on the conclusion of Joshua vs Ruiz I, Hearn and Jordan both believe Dubois quit in his ninth-round KO loss to Oleksandr Usyk last September.

Once again, he took a knee and waited to be counted out by the referee.

Since then, he’s shown tons of heart to get a big win over Filip Hrgovic.

Only time will tell if Dubois be able to show the same toughness against Joshua.

talkSPORT will bring you exclusive live commentary of the heavyweight clash at Wembley Stadium between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois on Saturday, September 21. Download the talkSPORT app here.