Andy Ruiz Jr. has thoroughly enjoyed himself since pulling off one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history.
The newly crowned IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion hasn’t been shy about showing off his new purchases throughout this three-month victory tour.
A new house. A Rolls Royce. Expensive jewelry.
You name it, Ruiz seemingly has bought it while celebrating his life-changing knockout of Anthony Joshua on June 1 at Madison Square Garden.
Ruiz just hopes supporters and detractors alike haven’t gotten the wrong idea. According to Ruiz, they’re incorrect if they think he’s not taking his immediate rematch with Joshua very seriously.
The 30-year-old Ruiz expressed that sentiment Wednesday during the first stop on the three-day, three-country press tour to promote their December 7 bout in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
“The hunger still remains,” Ruiz said. “You know, I don’t wanna be a 15 minute of fame. You know? I want it to last. I want to be a generation. I wanna be a champion for more years. I wanna challenge it and, you know, I have a good fighter right here next to me. He’s gonna try to take these belts, but like I said, God’s with me and we’re gonna be training really hard for December 7th.”
Ruiz and Joshua will continue promoting their rematch Thursday in New York. The tour is scheduled to end Friday in London.
Once their hectic press junket concludes, Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), of Imperial, California, and Joshua (22-1, 20 KOs), of Watford, England, will have approximately three months apiece to train for their second showdown. Ruiz took their first fight on less than six weeks’ notice, once Joshua’s original opponent, Jarrell Miller, tested positive for three different performance-enhancing drugs.
Ruiz fully exploited that opportunity by getting off the canvas in the third round, knocking down Joshua four times, twice apiece in the third and seventh rounds, and ruined Joshua’s debut in the United States.
Referee Michael Griffin stopped their scheduled 12-round bout at 1:27 of the seventh round. Joshua was still standing, but Griffin halted the action because Joshua didn’t follow his instructions and move forward from his corner.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.