By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Eddie Hearn had no problem with referee Michael Griffin stopping Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight championship reign when he did.

Joshua’s promoter admitted after Joshua’s upset loss to Andy Ruiz that his previously undefeated fighter had nothing left when Griffin waved an end to their unbelievable battle at 1:27 of the seventh round Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Joshua got up from each of the four knockdowns Ruiz scored and responded, “Yes,” when Griffin asked him if he wanted to continue following that final knockdown.

Hearn considered that a natural reaction from Joshua, but he doesn’t believe the former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion wanted to continue fighting following that fourth knockdown.

“I don’t think he knew where he was,” Hearn said early Sunday morning, following a post-fight press conference. “I mean, it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh, what was [Griffin] doing?’ He didn’t know where he was. You know, he spat his gumshield out on the floor, to try and probably get a little more time, or just didn’t know where he was. He’s trying to stand up. He could hardly stand up, so he was looking at the ref. He didn’t say, ‘I don’t wanna continue.’ The ref said, ‘Are you OK?’ And he sort of said, ‘Yes, I’m OK.’ But the fight was done.”

Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) dropped the heavily favored Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) twice in the third round and twice in the seventh. Joshua essentially was saved by the bell at the end of the third round because there wasn’t any time left in once he got up and Griffin stopped counting.

If there were more time remaining in the third round, Hearn acknowledged that Ruiz would’ve finished off his British superstar in that round. Unlike the third round, an exhausted, dejected Joshua got up from the second knockdown during the seventh round with 1:50 remaining in it.

“I’d love to say it was an early stoppage,” Hearn said. “But ultimately, I mean, when the referee waved no, [Joshua] went, ‘Oh, oh, I’m all right.’ But he wasn’t really trying to continue. He just didn’t know where he was. I mean, the third round was one of the maddest rounds I’ve ever seen. And I thought, I mean, 20 more seconds in that round, it’s over.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.