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Anthony Joshua claims he has spent the last two years fearing he was about to be beaten.

The former heavyweight world champion was unbeaten in 22 fights before he was stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in June.

And just 10 days before he bids to win back his three belts in the desert of Saudi Arabia, Joshua has revealed he sensed defeat was coming.

"There's definitely stuff I can work on," he told Sky Sports. "I've been screaming this for two years in my gym, 'I keep on going this way, I'm going to end up getting beat soon!'.

"But sometimes when the tools in your military box, in your army box, are working and you're slaying the division, sometimes you don't need to sharpen your other tools.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

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"But I've been saying it for two years. That's why I say now, I go back to my instincts. My style has to change. If I want the same result, I do the same thing in preparation. If I want a different result, I have to do different things in training.

"Not change everything. I haven't got enough time to reinvent the whole plan and there's certain leaks that I've been saying that I need to tighten up on, but it's all good."

Joshua dropped Ruiz in the third round of their first meeting but was then sent to the canvas himself twice before the bell rang.

He was also dropped twice in the seventh round before the fight was waved off.

(Image: PA)

Joshua subsequently claimed Ruiz caught him with a "punch from the gods" - but he has now explained what he meant.

"Why did I say it was a punch from the gods? Because I train in a certain way that means he shouldn't hit me with that shot. So I said it was sent from the gods," he added.

"But for him, for Andy? That's the shot he landed because he trained for it.

"I don't worry too much what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. I have to focus on myself."