By Jake Donovan
At this point, even Eddie Hearn has to laugh at the continued discussion in where to place the heavyweight title fight rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua.
“I keep saying every weekend, ‘in a week’ (to close a deal),” the promoter quipped during an interview with IFL TV.
Ruiz (33-1, 22KOs) shocked the world with his off-the-canvas 7th round knockout of previously unbeaten Joshua this past June in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The win earned Ruiz a slew of heavyweight titles, becoming the first-ever boxer of Mexican descent to lay claim to the heavyweight crown.
The fight came about after originally scheduled opponent Jarrell Miller tested positive for several banned substances, thus removing the unbeaten Brooklyn (N.Y.) from the fold. Ruiz accepted the fight on barely five weeks’ notice, thus salvaging the U.S. debut for England’s Joshua—though obviously not ending the way the Brit and his team preferred.
In accepting the fight and the career-best payday that came with it came provisions in the contract. Included among them were a rematch clause which Joshua (22-1, 21KOs)—a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist—has already exercised, along with language suggesting Joshua and Hearn get to determine where such a fight will take place
For weeks, two working dates and locations have been offered: Nov. 29 back at MSG; or Dec. 14 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
The first of the two has all but been ruled out, even if not officially. Somehow, not even process of elimination nails down the exact location or when to expect an announcement.
“There’s a lot of things that went into the decision. Not 100% but I don’t think the fight will take place in America,” noted Hearn, although stopping well short of suggesting there isn’t any chance at all of it taking place stateside. “(Cardiff) is definitely a place of interest. (Ruiz) don’t want to go there.
“Again, it doesn’t mean we can’t do it. He doesn’t have anything against Cardiff, but he doesn’t really want to come to the U.K. We want to make sure he’s respected, but at the end of the day he signed a contract and he knows it.”
The hope now is to at least head into this weekend without having to once again utter “in a week” when asked for the next update.
“Ruiz’s team will be alerted probably in the next 48 hours,” revealed Hearn. “Then it’s just a case of whenever we make that public knowledge, when we go through that process and wait for the official announcement and press conferences.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
