Hearn: Probably Half-a-Dozen Guys Identified To Spar Joshua

Eddie Hearn, promoter for heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua, explains his fighter will have the best sparring possible for upcoming rematch with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO world champion Andy Ruiz.

Ruiz took the first bout with Joshua on late notice, when original opponent Jarrell Miller was pulled from the bout after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Ruiz dropped Joshua four times to capture the unified crowd with a seventh round stoppage at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The rematch is scheduled for December 7th in Saudi Arabia.

When Ruiz came in as a late replacement, Joshua and his handlers had a hard time securing the proper sparring partners. And that, according to Joshua's team, made it tough to get ready for Ruiz's overall style. 

This time around, early preparations have begun to grasp proper sparring partners.

"It's so difficult to replicate the style of Andy Ruiz," Hearn told Sky Sports. "The guy is 6'1", he's 19 stone, and he's got speed like a middleweight.

"It's one thing getting a sparring partner in, it's getting them to let their hands go against Anthony Joshua. Would you want to do it? You've got to be mad to even spar with him, let alone fight him. We've got more heavyweights than anyone. I don't really want them helping out Andy Ruiz. We've already identified probably half-a-dozen guys who we think are the right mould.

"One of the problems last time was we had six weeks to prepare. Ruiz was coming off Alexander Dimitrenko, which was actually a great style to prepare for Anthony Joshua. We tried to get the sparring in, we struggled a little bit, no excuses, but this time around the preparation has got to be spot on. There's six, seven guys we've already identified and hopefully they make the trip and we can get the absolute best preparation this time around."