Eddie Hearn tells Anthony Joshua to ‘snap out of it’ over disillusion with boxing ahead of Andy Ruiz rematch

Former heavyweight champion has displayed a notable change in direction since his shock defeat and Hearn believes it will be no more Mr Nice Guy when the Saudi Arabia rematch takes place

Eddie Hearn has told Anthony Joshua to “snap out of it” after the former world heavyweight champion admitted that he had grown disillusioned with boxing.

Joshua lost his WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight titles in one of the most high-profile shocks of the generation when unheralded Andy Ruiz Jr stopped him inside seven unforgettable rounds at New York's Madison Square Garden on 1 June.

He has since agreed a deal to face Ruiz in an immediate rematch on 7 December in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia and is expected to bank a career-high payday as a result of his decision to box in the desert kingdom.

Joshua, 29, will come face-to-face with Ruiz for the first time since his defeat next week when the pair take part in a three-continent press tour to promote the fight.

But, during an interview with Sky Sports, Joshua admitted that he has lost “a bit of passion” for the sport and has been left feeling jaded after failing to secure fights with either of the world's two other leading heavyweights, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.

Now his promoter Hearn, the man behind the fight in Saudi, says his client must stop feeling sorry for himself as he bids to regain his world titles and get his career back on track.

“I think he's just got to snap out of it,” said Hearn.

“I think he was disillusioned with the sport because he wanted to fight Deontay Wilder.

“He couldn't get that fight and as he said in the interview, he didn't really want to fight Andy Ruiz. But tough, you fought him and you fought a real hungry guy.

“I think the great thing about this promotion is that now, for the first time next week, he looks a man in the eyes who is the only man to beat him as a professional.

“It's going to be absolutely huge. The whole world will stop to watch this fight.”

The first stop on the tour is the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday before a press conference in New York on Thursday and a final event in Joshua's home town of London on Friday.

Hearn believes there will be a very different atmosphere during the build-up to this encounter compared to the first fight in June, when Joshua drew criticism for allowing Ruiz to pose with his world championship belts at the final press conference.

The Matchroom boss believes defeat in New York has changed Joshua, who conceded that he lacked motivation in the first fight with Ruiz. But now, with his career on the line, the darling of British boxing could turn “nasty”.

His demeanour appears to have already changed somewhat with Joshua surprisingly labelling former unified world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis a “clown”.

Anthony Joshua has been told to ‘snap out of it’ by his promoter Eddie Hearn for the good of his career (Reuters)

Hearn said: “He ain't going to be giving Ruiz no belts to hold because he doesn't have them anymore.

“He doesn't even want to talk to him, he wants to knock him clean out. He didn't have that feeling last time but it's a new game now, a new game. Josh wants to take his head off.

“He's thinking 'I've tried to be the role model, I've tried to be that guy but people have slagged me off and said what they want to say – now I'll say something back'.

“Now he gets criticised for calling people things, like Lennox Lewis who has criticised him and given him sly digs his whole career.

“Josh can't win so he's decided, do you know what, maybe it's a new approach, bring back the nasty Josh. We hope that nasty Josh comes out for the Ruiz fight.”

Eddie Hearn confirmed Anthony Joshua is taking a different approach to his attitude in public (PA)

But first for Hearn is this weekend’s sold out, pay-per-view promotion topped by Luke Campbell’s clash with the great Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBA, WBO and WBC lightweight titles at the O2 Arena.

Hull man Campbell is as long as 10/1 with some bookmakers and Hearn says he should take inspiration from cricketer Ben Stokes, who recently completed a sporting feat which looked unachievable.

England looked dead and buried at 286-9 before the all-rounder kept England’s Ashes hopes alive with an unbeaten 135 at Headingley in what has been described as one of the best Test innings in cricket’s long and storied history.

And Hearn said: “Luke Campbell needs to produce a Ben Stokes-like performance.

“He needs to produce that moment of brilliance where people say ‘where did that come from?’

“But you need that rub of the green along the way. Stokes had a dropped catch, a plum LBW that Australia couldn’t review. You need that little bit of luck.

“And that’s what Campbell needs - that moment of brilliance - to beat this guy.”