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The blockbuster rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr vs. Anthony Joshua will take place in Saudi Arabia in a £70 million ($100 million) mega-event.
Saudi Arabian sports en****** have put up close to £70 million for the fight to take place in the Middle East, according to the Telegraph.
Saudi Arabia fended off fierce competition from US, England, Wales as well as Dubai to land the highly-anticipated rematch.
Joshua's set to earn a staggering amount of money with Ruiz Jr on a fixed purse of £7.5 million ($9 million) due to contract stipulations.
In the last 11 months, Saudi Arabia have hosted two major fights involving British boxers. In September 2018, Callum Smith beat George Goves in the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament final.
While Amir Khan's last fight took place in Jeddah. He reportedly earned £7 million to fight Australian Billy Dib in July.
Joshua will have the chance to avenge his sole professional defeat when he meets Ruiz Jr again on December 7.
He lost his WBA (super), IBF and WBO world titles to the Mexican-American on his US debut in New York.
The Matchroom boss will host a press conference on Monday to formally announce Ruiz Jr vs. Joshua II.
And ahead of facing Ruiz Jr again, Joshua has opened up about his defeat, explaining in detail how the Madison Square Garden crowd and having one eye on Deontay Wilder were responsible for his loss.
"This fight, in terms of what it meant, there was no real gain in it," he told JD Sports.
"So beating Ruiz, I could be sitting here now and it wouldn't have meant as much to me as it is to train for the rematch.
"Everything it meant to Ruiz winning, is everything it didn't mean to me beating him.
"In the second round I heard the crowd booing, someone told me there was a fight going on in the arena, that's why. But [my] debut in New York - crowd's booing.
"The week before, Wilder had knocked [Dominic] Breazeale out in the first round and I'm fighting two weeks after, so [I thought] 'let's go and handle business', I don't want to let the people down.
"With this fight here, I feel like where I've been fighting for so many years, when I came into the boxing arena, it was like I was steamrolling through.
"Joshua's going to fight, yeah, boom, knock them out, so from walking into a gym, to three years later competing in the Olympics, from turning professional to three years later becoming world champion, it seemed like this was already written in the stars.
"But I think behind the scenes, the efforts, the education, the mind training that it takes to develop these skills and capabilities to be in that position are tiring.
"When it looks easy, they never truly respect what it is you are trying to achieve.
"My purpose for that fight was, 'am I fighting Wilder next?' The purpose for that fight was, 'what is he doing next?', it wasn't solely on winning that fight."
http://www.sportbible.com/boxing/box...source=twitter
A-side Ruiz doe.
Saudi Arabian sports en****** have put up close to £70 million for the fight to take place in the Middle East, according to the Telegraph.
Saudi Arabia fended off fierce competition from US, England, Wales as well as Dubai to land the highly-anticipated rematch.
Joshua's set to earn a staggering amount of money with Ruiz Jr on a fixed purse of £7.5 million ($9 million) due to contract stipulations.
In the last 11 months, Saudi Arabia have hosted two major fights involving British boxers. In September 2018, Callum Smith beat George Goves in the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament final.
While Amir Khan's last fight took place in Jeddah. He reportedly earned £7 million to fight Australian Billy Dib in July.
Joshua will have the chance to avenge his sole professional defeat when he meets Ruiz Jr again on December 7.
He lost his WBA (super), IBF and WBO world titles to the Mexican-American on his US debut in New York.
The Matchroom boss will host a press conference on Monday to formally announce Ruiz Jr vs. Joshua II.
And ahead of facing Ruiz Jr again, Joshua has opened up about his defeat, explaining in detail how the Madison Square Garden crowd and having one eye on Deontay Wilder were responsible for his loss.
"This fight, in terms of what it meant, there was no real gain in it," he told JD Sports.
"So beating Ruiz, I could be sitting here now and it wouldn't have meant as much to me as it is to train for the rematch.
"Everything it meant to Ruiz winning, is everything it didn't mean to me beating him.
"In the second round I heard the crowd booing, someone told me there was a fight going on in the arena, that's why. But [my] debut in New York - crowd's booing.
"The week before, Wilder had knocked [Dominic] Breazeale out in the first round and I'm fighting two weeks after, so [I thought] 'let's go and handle business', I don't want to let the people down.
"With this fight here, I feel like where I've been fighting for so many years, when I came into the boxing arena, it was like I was steamrolling through.
"Joshua's going to fight, yeah, boom, knock them out, so from walking into a gym, to three years later competing in the Olympics, from turning professional to three years later becoming world champion, it seemed like this was already written in the stars.
"But I think behind the scenes, the efforts, the education, the mind training that it takes to develop these skills and capabilities to be in that position are tiring.
"When it looks easy, they never truly respect what it is you are trying to achieve.
"My purpose for that fight was, 'am I fighting Wilder next?' The purpose for that fight was, 'what is he doing next?', it wasn't solely on winning that fight."
http://www.sportbible.com/boxing/box...source=twitter
A-side Ruiz doe.
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