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For all 15 minutes of his post-fight press conference, Andy Ruiz was saying sorry. He apologised to his father, his apologised to trainer, Manny Robles, he apologised for being overweight. This was not the time to try to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, this was the time to admit you were wrong.
Anthony Joshua did not crack a smile until the verdict was read out, although the roar of pent up frustration that greeted Michael Buffer’s announcement gave the first indication, despite all the denials, of how hurt he had been by the loss the Ruiz six months ago.
Defeat, for Anthony Joshua, is not an option. One defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr, in June, was embraced as a chance to reflect. Another, on Saturday night, he admits would be “catastrophic”. A victory over Ruiz Jr in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night, and he will get back to just about where he was before their first fight at Madison Square Ga. A loss, though, would make the journey back so long and difficult, many feel he would not even attempt it.
If he beats Eric Molina in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, which he expects to do, Filip Hrgovic has drawn up a list of fighters he wants to face next year. He plans on beating them all before going onto a world title in 2021. The 27-year-old is the type of fighter that exudes confidence.
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.
It has taken a long time for Michael Hunter to get where he is and having finally earned his dues as a heavyweight, he is not about to let anyone sell him short now. Hunter is still talked of as a young prospect, but in reality, he is 31. Yet after being widely written off after an unsuccessful shot at Oleksandr Usyk for the WBO cruiserweight title in 2017, he has made dramatic strides up the heavyweight rankings in the past 14 months.
Andy Ruiz Jr has hinted that he already has a fight with Deontay Wilder for the undisputed world heavyweight title lined up if he can win his rematch against Anthony Joshua in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday. Both Ruiz and Wilder are signed to Al Haymon’s PBC so a deal would be easy to make. And while Wilder has agreed to a rematch with Tyson Fury – which is expected to be announced for February 22 in Las Vegas, although it is yet to be formally announced – Ruiz, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, claims he has been speaking on the phone with Wilder, the WBC champion, to discuss a future fight.
Andy Ruiz weighed a whopping 283.7lb for his heavyweight title rematch with Anthony Joshua at Friday’s weigh-in, having piled on 15lb since he won the title from Joshua in June. Ruiz, who wore a sombrero to the stage, had posted videos early in his training camp for the fight claiming he had slimmed down, but there were no signs of any weight loss when he arrived in Saudi Arabia and rumours on Wednesday said that he would be “the same of a bit higher”.
The best way for Andy Ruiz Jr to repeat his win over Anthony Joshua is to continue where he left off in June in New York, according to his trainer, Manny Robles. Ruiz makes the first defence of his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles in a rematch with Joshua at Diriyah on Saturday but having dropped Joshua four times in the first fight, the temptgation must be there for Ruiz to try things the same way again.
If there is one person who might be able to recognise how Andy Ruiz Jr feels going into his rematch with Anthony Joshua, it’s Hasim Rahman. It is Rahman’s rematch with Lennox Lewis that is constantly quoted as a source of inspiration by those who feel Joshua will gain revenge, but as Rahman says, Joshua has yet to prove he is anything like the fighter Lewis was.