Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has quashed reports he had a panic attack before his shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr, in which he lost his IBF, WBO and WBA world titles.
In a video posted on the heavyweight boxer's YouTube channel, the former unified world heavyweight champion also denied he had experienced food poisoning, instead accepting responsibility for the loss.
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Joshua headed into the fight against Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (NZ time) as heavy favourite, but fell to his first defeat in 23 professional fights when the referee ended the bout in the seventh round after the Brit had been knocked down four times - twice in the round.
Immediately after the contest, reports online emerged saying that Joshua suffered a panic attack moments before the bout and that was why his walk-on to the ring was delayed.
"There have been a lot of accusations and worries about what was wrong with me," Joshua said in a video released on his YouTube page.
"It was an amazing night, an amazing night altogether. From the changing room, I was in a mixed changing room space, I warmed up really well. I had no panic attack. I'm not that type of person, you know me.
"And that's why I say, and I'm going to keep on saying, that I have to take my loss like a man, no blaming anyone, no blaming anything, I'm the one who went into there to perform and my performance didn't go to plan.
"I want to tell you this: I am a soldier and I have to take my ups and my downs - and on Saturday I took a loss.
"Congratulations to Andy Ruiz. He has six months or so to be champion because the belts go in the air and he has to defend them."
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn announced earlier in the week that a rematch with US-born Mexican Ruiz Jr would take place in the UK in either November or December.
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