By Matthew Cooper, courtesy of The Daily Star

Anthony Joshua could suffer from flashbacks when he rematches Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudia Arabia on December 7, according to David Haye.

Ruiz triumphed over Joshua back in June in one of boxing’s biggest upset victories.

The fight was waved off in the seventh round after the Brit was felled twice by Ruiz in Joshua’s American debut at Madison Square Garden.

Now, AJ is looking to regain the WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO titles and will know that a second loss to Ruiz will massively dent his hopes of meeting Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury in a blockbuster heavyweight bout.

Now, former heavyweight champion David Haye has given his thoughts on the rematch and the 39-year-old is worried about the psychological effects the first loss may have on Joshua.

Speaking to The Times, he said: "Boxers talk about flashbacks and we will not know the impact of that defeat until Anthony Joshua gets hit on the chin by Ruiz.

“He might well revert back to how he felt in that first fight.

"That first big shot might buckle the knees and all the hype and all the training goes out of the window.”

"If he loses twice to a guy that not many believe is the best in the division we are talking lots of tough fights even to get back into contention.

“He needs to win conclusively. Ruiz has proved you can’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes a fighter gets that first big pay-cheque and they lose the eye of the tiger.

"He might have had one too many tubs of Haagen-Dazs in his Rolls-Royce.”

Haye currently manages fellow British heavyweight Dereck Chisora who has been sparring with Joshua in preparation for the Ruiz fight and the 35-year-old is backing his compatriot to emerge victorious.

“Anthony is the better boxer technically — but I thought that before the first fight,” Chisora said.“I watched what happened, I couldn’t believe my eyes and wondered what I was seeing.

“It all unravelled and that was hard for AJ. He had a bad day at the office, which can happen to anyone.

“Nobody expected it to happen — but now I just hope the real AJ turns up for this one.”