It did not take long for the boxing community to respond to Anthony Joshua’s shocking defeat at the hands of new heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jnr.
The fight in New York saw “AJ” floored four times and it has been described as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
Deontay Wilder, who Joshua has long been expected to fight, pulled no punches on Twitter.
“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!!!!”
Tyson Fury, who is lined up to fight Wilder again next year, was more supportive.
“We have our back and Forth’s but @anthonyfjoshua changed his stars through life. heavyweight boxing, these things happen, rest up, recover, regroup and come again,” he wrote on Twitter.
Retired boxer Carl Frampton was unimpressed with Joshua’s reaction to defeat. Frampton told the BBC that “If you lose a fight you should be absolutely heartbroken. You should be raging with yourself and absolutely gutted. I’m not seeing that.”
Joshua posed for photographs after his defeat, smiling for the cameras in the ring.
Joshua was also widely mocked for recently posting a picture of himself with rapper Drake on Instagram alongside the caption “Bout to break the curse”.
This was in reference to the so-called “Drake curse” where sports teams and athletes associated with the musician suffer defeat.