Rumours Anthony Joshua was knocked out in sparring before shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr rubbished by Eddie Hearn
RUMOURS Anthony Joshua was knocked out in sparring by Joey Dawejko have been rubbished by promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua's status at the pinnacle of world boxing was shattered when he suffered a seventh round stoppage loss to 25-1 outsider Andy Ruiz Jr on his US debut last weekend.
Conspiracies surrounding Joshua’s shock defeat came thick and fast but suggestions he suffered a panic attack before his ring walk and a KO in sparring were the most spoken about.
Further rumours emerged that heavyweight Dawejko, who was brought in to mimic Ruiz’s podgy frame, was the man who knocked out AJ in sparring.
However, speaking to Joshua’s promoter Hearn revealed the Brit superstar was “absolutely not” floored in sparring by Dawejko, or any other heavyweight.
Hearn said: “A journalist messaged me the next day, ‘We heard he got knocked out by Agit Kabayel’. I said Agit Kabayel wasn’t in the camp.
“They said, ‘Who else did he spar with?’ I said he sparred with Joey Dawejko. [They said] ‘Oh, Joey Dawejko knocked him out’.
“I’m not in camp. I speak to AJ, I speak to Rob [McCracken], I speak to all the people. No [he wasn’t knocked out], not at all. They had two spars. Not at all.
“How many times has AJ had a fight where the rumours are he’s been dropped in camp?
“Every fight. And actually the only one that when you speak to AJ he talks about is David Price dropped him in sparring.
“And actually he’s not the kind of guy who would sort of deny or hide from it.
I mean, again, I wasn’t there. I speak to 12 people that were there. Absolutely not is the response.”
Hearn on Joshua sparring rumours
On fight week Joshua was sporting a mark under his left eye which fuelled suggestions it was caused in sparring.
However, AJ claimed it was due to cosmetic surgery that went wrong - again denying rumours he was troubled in preparation for his Madison Square Garden fight.
Hearn reiterated AJ’s scar had not come from sparring, as he said: “It wasn’t a black eye. It was from a compression machine that went on his face and it took the skin off.
“Did you see the injury? It was where he’d had skin taken off his face. You don’t get that from getting chinned and knocked down.
“So it was crazy all the reports [being concussed]. You think he sparred the week of the fight? He was in New York from Saturday, he wasn’t sparring.
“And even if he did get hurt – which he didn’t – do you not think fighters spar and get hurt in sparring? I had a sit down with AJ and asked did you get hurt in sparring and he said no.”
It was revealed this week Joshua’s apparent sparring rival Dawejko is being lined up with a fight against ex-cruiserweight world champion Murat Gassiev on Hearn’s July 27 show in Texas.
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Dawejko, who also sparred Ruiz in April, will face Gassiev on the undercard of the super-lightweight unification bout between Maurice Hooker and Jose Carlos Ramirez.
Some cynics have questioned whether Dawejko’s spot on the world title undercard is a result of keeping quiet about what happened in the ring with Brit superstar AJ.
However, the 19-7-4 heavyweight has since denied the sparring rumours are true.
