Who will beat Anthony Joshua next time?

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Forced to add a "former" in front of the "unbeaten world boxing champion" title at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night, the Briton Anthony Joshua (22W-1L, 21KOs) might soon have another fight with the Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr. (33W-1L, 22KOs) to gain his four belts back.

During the 12-round bout, the 1.98m tall giant was knocked down by the tubby rival four times, respectively in 1:45 and 0:00 to the end of Round 3, as well as 2:27 and 1:58 to the end of Round 7. After the last one, the referee Michael Griffin stopped the whole match to protect the nosing-bleeding Joshua.

Andy Ruiz Jr. of Mexico holds the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world heavyweight champions belts after defeating Anthony Joshua of the UK at Madison Square Garden in New York, June 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

Ruiz only lost once to Joseph Parker of Australia in 2016, while the latter lost to Joshua by unanimous decision in 2018.

Before the match, perhaps nobody had foreseen Joshua's loss, including himself as the odds for his win were 11-1. But the substitute of Jarrell Miller controlled the tempo of the game well – reacting quickly once he got apart from the clinch and launched unstoppable punches to the unresponsive British.

It was the first time that Joshua left the UK to take part in a battle. And it was also the first time that Mexico got a world heavyweight boxing champion.

After the match, Joshua posted on Twitter: "This is Andy's night, congratulations Champ" to Ruiz, acknowledging the fact that he fell to the third place in the heavyweight world ranking on the authentic boxing website BoxRec.

The American "Bronze Bomber" Deontay Wilder, who always looks for a big fight with Joshua and now ranks between Ruiz and him, mocked the loser on his Twitter account: "He wasn't a true champion. His whole career was consisted of lies, contradictions and gifts. Facts and now we know who was running from who!!!!"

Andy Ruiz Jr. of Mexico launches a punch to Anthony Joshua of the UK at Madison Square Garden in New York, June 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

Wilder's anger probably stems from the decrease of Joshua's commercial value, which will interrupt his encounter with Joshua.

While Tyson Fury, the only person who made a drew with the unbeaten Wilder, supported his compatriot Joshua, even though he is one of his potential rivals.

"We have our back and forth's but Anthony Joshua changed his stars through life. Heavyweight boxing, these things happen, rest up, recover, regroup and come again," heavyweight world No.4 Fury encouraged Joshua on his Twitter account.

According to Reuters, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has already said there will be a rematch, possibly in England or Wales later this year, and that is a must-win for the 2012 Olympic super-heavyweight champion.

Besides, former unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin watched this century's super defeat on site and perhaps told himself to not repeat the fault of underestimating your opponent in his 164 pounds bout against Steve Rolls at the same venue this Saturday night.

(Cover photo via VCG)