Joshua vs Ruiz rematch: Frank Bruno offers encouragement to Anthony Joshua after Andy Ruiz Jr upset

British boxing icon Frank Bruno has told former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua that ‘sometimes in life you have to lose’.

Joshua fell victim to one of the biggest shocks in recent memory on June 1 when underdog Andy Ruiz Jr dramatically stopped him in the seventh round of their Madison Square Garden encounter to claim the WBO, IBF and WBA titles.

The Londoner is set to trigger the rematch clause in their initial fight contract which means an immediate chance to exact revenge on Ruiz with a return clash expected to fall in either October or November.

But with the dust still settling on the New York shocker, Bruno has offered some words of reassurance to Joshua.

When it comes to being the darling of British boxing, the 57-year-old wrote the book on it. During a 45-fight career which gleaned the WBC heavyweight title in 1995, Bruno became arguably the most universally loved British boxer of all time.

And Bruno, who was beaten in four world heavyweight title fights, believes he learned the value of losing.

“I feel for Anthony Joshua, but everybody has their problems and sometimes in life you’ve got to lose,” Bruno said.

“You can’t win all the time, and sometimes it tests the character of what it’s like when you lose.

“Some people, when they lose they get gun shy, they give up, their inspiration goes or whatever, but it will be interesting to see how he comes through it, Anthony Joshua.

“I hope he does come through it, because he’s a good trainer, he’s an ambassador for British boxing.

“A lot of kids look up to him and I hope he goes on to do very well.”

Since his retirement following his 1996 defeat to Mike Tyson in Las Vegas, Bruno has faced a well-documented battle with mental illness.

In 2003 he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act for the first time when ambulance crews called police to his Essex home. He later revealed the prescribed medication made him suicidal. Nine years later, he was sectioned again.

He has spoken in the past of feeling under ‘too much pressure’, and he admits that life as an iconic figure of British sport can take its toll.

A quarter of a century on from Bruno’s pomp, it is Joshua who now carries the mantle as the country’s punching poster boy and the 57-year-old can understand the pressure he is under.

“It is a hard thing to deal with,” Bruno added. “but sometimes in life you just keep your feet on the ground and keep it real.

“On television, in the newspaper, it’s only chip paper the next day. You can be famous one minute and not the next.

“You just have to keep it real, stay focused and stay humble. Some people go on TV, get a little bit of publicity and it will go to their head.

“We’re all human beings, you just have to keep focused and balanced, don’t get carried away with all the bullshit people are writing about you, or putting you down. It’s important to not get carried away.

“Some people lose the plot. They get too big headed and believe the hype and all that different shit.

“It’s very crazy, because at the end of the day it’s still the same people you pass coming down, still the same person there.

“Money and fame is just plastic, what’s in your heart, what’s in your head that’s important. Just keep it real.”

Bruno is speaking at the famed Peacock Gym, where he takes the rising star of British boxing, Daniel Dubois, through a pad session for the assembled cameras.

He likes what he sees in Dubois, another Londoner, and has tipped him to beat Nathan Gorman in their domestic grudge match at the o2 Arena on July 13.

For now, Dubois and Gorman remain in the slipstream of Britain’s leading heavyweights Joshua, Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte, but that is no bad thing.

“It’s an amazing time to be a British heavyweight,” Bruno says. “The naughts and the money they’re making is a different cup of tea from what they were making years ago.

“But look, it’s very difficult for me to sit here and tell you ‘I wish I would’ve done this, I wish I would’ve done that’.

“I’ve done what I had to do, achieved what I had to do, retired 25 years ago and now I’m still ducking and diving and earning a bit of money here and there.

“I haven’t really got anything to grumble about. It’s just bitter to say ‘I wish’, to think that is crazy shit.

“I’ve done what I had to do, I’m contented with what I done and now I look at youngsters and hope they do what they have to do.”

Bruno, now more than 23 years on from his last fight, remains in fine fettle and it is suggested that he could even make the 200lb cruiserweight limit.

“Don’t think so,” he responds. “I’m 16 and a half stone, sir!

“The last 25 years have gone very, very quick. It feels like only yesterday.

“But that’s the way the cookie crumbles. As you get older, time flies by, doesn’t it?

“I just want to try and look after myself.

“Sometimes when people finish whatever they do, they put on a few stone here and there.

“The secret is to try and nick a little bit most days and try to look after yourself.

“I”m privileged that I’ve got the health club near me, I’ve got a 24 hour gym near me and I’m privileged that I want to try and look after myself to look half decent.

“I do the pads and whatever. Sometimes I feel like I want to do some sparring, but that’s another story. It’s years since I last sparred.”

So how does he view the current heavyweight picture in light of Joshua’s defeat and Fury’s impressive Las Vegas debut.

He said: “It’s very, very difficult to say who the No.1 is. On paper, it’s Deontay Wilder, who has got the WBC belt. Tyson went to his backyard and challenged him.

“Tyson Fury is up there, Anthony Joshua is up there and Dillian Whyte, you have to give him credit too, he’s the boxer nobody wants to fight.

“I just wish all of them can make as much money as they can, get a draw and then make some more money and do well for the country and do well for their back pocket.”