Comments Thread For: Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua II Confirmed For 12/7, Saudi Arabia

[jas]

2 big signs of a fading fighter: legs and punch resistance start to go

and the first fight showed aj is lacking big in those areas now

ruiz by ko again

[champion4ever]

You think Ruiz demanded the fight be in Saudi Arabia?

We might not have seen that rematch clause wording but I think this proves it was pretty locked down.

And the way it's played out looks like AJ got to make the call, but Ruiz threatened to drag it out at the risk of dropping belts. He always had some leverage by holding the belts - you can't force a guy through the ropes.

If they've agreed then they've agreed. They've settled on something that doesn't need a court's involvement. That's why we've got a fight six months on from the first fight instead of taking a year.

Your points scoring doesn't really matter. They've reached an agreement.

No, but he didn't want it staged in the U.K either and he succeeded. Which tells me that he held more cards at the bargaining table than we had originally thought.

In any case, what Joshua and Matchroom did was very sound, practical and made very good business sense. If either side had chosen to take legal action, then all of the belts could have been lost for good.

Which I believe was Team Ruiz' strategy all along; To force Matchroom and Joshua into a court battle and drag this fiasco out for as long as they can. In hopes of dropping the titles before Joshua can win them back.

In addition, with Bob Arum pressuring the IBF to call in their mandatory; They made a very wise choice.

[Roberto Vasquez]

"Clash On the Dunes"?? Please someone come up with a more catchy title.

No, but he didn't want it staged in the U.K either and he succeeded. Which tells me that he held more cards at the bargaining table than we had originally thought.

Did you not read the $100 million part???

2 big signs of a fading fighter: legs and punch resistance start to go

and the first fight showed aj is lacking big in those areas now

ruiz by ko again

You must have missed AJ fighting in the amateurs. Never had punch resistance to start with. He's young, no heavy knockouts. He's not an 'old' fighter.

He is terrible at fighting shorter fighters though...

[Toffee]

No, but he didn't want it staged in the U.K either and he succeeded. Which tells me that he held more cards at the bargaining table than we had originally thought.

In any case, what Joshua and Matchroom did was very sound, practical and made very good business sense. If either side had chosen to take legal action, then all of the belts could have been lost for good.

Which I believe was Team Ruiz' strategy all along; To force Matchroom and Joshua into a court battle and drag this fiasco out for as long as they can. In hopes of dropping the titles before Joshua can win them back.

In addition, with Bob Arum pressuring the IBF to call in their mandatory; They made a very wise choice.

I agree that Team AJ made the right call. I doubt that Ruiz really would have let all of the titles go, but even just holding one would put him in a position to still make huge money. Money he wasn't getting anywhere near until a couple of months ago. So his threat was real - being prepared to go through with what you're threatening always gives you an extra edge.

That was the leverage that Ruiz had. We all know Joshua wants the 3 real belts back so he can push for undisputed down the line. Ruiz doesn't need them. I doubt very much we would see two PBC fighters challenging for Undisputed... why have one champ when you can have two?

[champion4ever]

Yep, I'm waiting on the answers and the court case too ...

"But the location is in da contract doe" - LoLoLoL!

Chalk up another defeat for Eddie Hearn. He was forced to bow down, kowtow and ducked for cover over Andy Ruiz' threats to not fight in the U.K.

Once again Eddie Hearn got outfoxed and outwitted by Al Haymon. Hearn threatened Ruiz with legal action for not fighting in Cardiff. However, he blinked as Ruiz called his bluff.

It was Al Haymon all along who was behind the scenes pulling Andy Ruiz' strings. He did it again! Take that Matchroom! Eddie has a lot to learn. You have to be a man to play in this game

[Patsfan bri]

Alcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia. The British fans won't like it lol.

It's a neutral location but still an odd choice.

It's a win-win for Hearn though.

If Joshua beats Ruiz, he gets his belts back, that Arab money and they're basically back to where they were before June 1st. If he loses they still get that Arab money.

alcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia so the brits won’t like that but ***** is prohibited in Saudi Arabia so I am sure the brits will like that .

[champion4ever]

"Clash On the Dunes"?? Please someone come up with a more catchy title.



Did you not read the $100 million part???

That's a lie. I've heard from various sources that the number is actually closer to $40 mil; Not $100 mil.

[champion4ever]

Did you not read the $100 million part???

That is all a big lie. I've heard from various sources that number is actually closer to $40 mil.

[SchoolTheseCats]

2 big signs of a fading fighter: legs and punch resistance start to go

and the first fight showed aj is lacking big in those areas now

ruiz by ko again

Not to mention 100degree weather for a boxer with stamina issues Ruiz by early ko don’t think fight makes it out 3rd round

[jas]

"Clash On the Dunes"?? Please someone come up with a more catchy title.



Did you not read the $100 million part???



You must have missed AJ fighting in the amateurs. Never had punch resistance to start with. He's young, no heavy knockouts. He's not an 'old' fighter.

He is terrible at fighting shorter fighters though...

fighters age at a different rate

i have seen big slippage in fighters in their late 20s

ped use can contribute to this also and there have been rumours regarding aj.