Anthony Joshua: record, next fight and profile →
Each man will enter the ring assuming an identity new to them. For Andy Ruiz, for the first time he will enter the ring as “the reigning.” Half a year has passed since he shocked the boxing world with an off the deck, four-knockdown drubbing of Anthony Joshua. No matter what he does the rest of his career, Ruiz will always have that moment.
Even with such language specified in the contract for their first fight, Andy Ruiz and his team were surprised when Anthony Joshua insisted on running it back. The fallen British heavyweight was on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight title fight history, suffering four knockdowns en route to a 7th round stoppage for his first career defeat. That memorable night at New York City’s Madison Square Garden saw California’s Ruiz (33-1, 22KOs) become the first-ever Mexican boxer to lay claim to the heavyweight throne, a moment which was immediately followed by England’s Joshua (22-1, 21KOs) exercising a rematch clause.
Andy Ruiz is an underdog against Anthony Joshua. Again. He wants to shock the world and prove his stunner of the century was not a fluke. Again. His trainer Manny Robles believes his fighter has gotten the short end of the stick throughout the Matchroom Boxing promoted show, and he’s hoping it doesn’t spill into the fight Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
The mega match between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua is hours away from unfolding. The British-born boxer is direly looking to avenge his loss, and he does not plan on letting the fight reach a decision. Joshua, who will weigh 50 pounds less than Ruiz once they step into the ring, doesn’t have plans of keeping the undersized-in-height heavyweight champion at bay to prevent history from repeating itself with yet another loss.
Michael Hunter had a years long relationship with Andy Ruiz going back to his days as an Olympic hopeful training under the tutelage of Ruiz trainer Manny Robles. Although he has former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman in his corner as his trainer ahead of his fight against Alexander Povetkin (35-2, 24 KOs) on Saturday as the co-feature to Ruiz’s rematch against Anthony Joshua, Hunter (18-1, 12 KOs) parlayed his relationship with Ruiz into high-stakes practice.
Hall of Famer and former heavyweight champion George Foreman is shaking his head at Andy Ruiz's weight of 283-pounds for Saturday's rematch with Anthony Joshua. Ruiz, who already looked pretty heavy, was 268-pounds back in June when he dropped Joshua four times for a seventh round stoppage. Now Joshua will attempt to reclaim the WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA world titles in Saudi Arabia.
So far, so good. Eddie Hearn has been so impressed by fight week in Saudi Arabia that he believes that it could soon rival Las Vegas as the home of the big fights. Saudi Arabia is understood to have put up around $40 million as a site fee for the heavyweight rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr and Anthony Joshua and while that sort of money would only be forthcoming for very few fights, Hearn, the promoter, suggested that they were interested in staging a fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder, as well as a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
COSMOPOLITAN, LAS VEGAS - WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz and former champion Anthony Joshua will renew acquaintances on Saturday when they square off in Saudi Arabia. The fight will be a rematch of their June bout that Ruiz won by 7th round knockout to shock the boxing world.
By Mitch Abramson - When the Hall-of-Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler was making fights for heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr. with Top Rank, there were times when he wondered if boxing was Ruiz’s first priority or if he was more interested in building homes with his father’s construction business. “You almost had to say, ‘Hey, are you going to...