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.
Ruiz went down in the third round bout was able to regain his composure and dropped Joshua 4 times in route to the victory.
Joshua is a favorite again in the rematch but this time around the odds are a lot closer. Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum expects Ruiz to repeat his performance and retain his titles.
"I think Andy Ruiz wins again. I think Joshua is overrated and I think that Andy is under appreciated. He fought most of his fights for us and I know how good he is. He has a low center of gravity which is good against a big heavyweight and people don't realize what great hand speed he has," Arum told BoxingScene.com and a small group of reporters.
Some observers feel that Ruiz is in Joshua's head and that will be his down fall in the rematch. Arum doesn't necessarily agree with that statement but feels that the fact that he was knocked out in the first fight may create some doubt in Joshua's mind.
"Nah, that is bullshit but again, in the back of Joshua's mind, is the fact that he got knocked out by this guy so that is a factor. How big of a factor? I don't know," Arum stated.
Ruiz-Joshua 2 takes place on December 7th and will be streamed live on DAZN in the United States.
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