By Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua is sending mixed messages to Andy Ruiz Jr. and his team as far as the location for the rematch. Joshua says he’s willing to fight Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) on neutral territory, but in the next breath he says he wants to have an advantage by placing the rematch in front of his fans in Cardiff, Wales.
AJ maintains that he wants to fight in home territory for the fans that have been with him from the beginning. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is expected to make a decision soon about the location of the rematch with Ruiz. Joshua wants to avenge his seventh round knockout loss to Ruiz Jr. from June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Surprisingly, boxing fans still consider it a huge upset defeat for Joshua despite the fact that he was dominated in every aspect of the fight. Ruiz was better than Joshua in each of these categories: chin, stamina, power, hand speed and ring IQ. Joshua was completely over-matched from start to finish by the arguably more talented Ruiz.
Joshua says he’s going to push for UK for location of Ruiz rematch
“I don’t mind fighting him in America, for the rematch now, I would love it to be in Cardiff, however, [if] it’s going to be on neutral ground, Ruiz is the champ, we’ll kind of make some calls as well in that situation,” said Joshua to skysports.com. “I’m going to battle for it to be in the UK, because it’s my stomping ground. I done one out there, so let’s do the rematch here. I think it will be amazing I’d fight in Tijuana and Ruiz’s uncle could be the referee and I would still whoop him.”
It sounds like Joshua is sending mixed messages when talking about the venue for the rematch with Ruiz. On one hand, AJ and his promoter Hearn of Matchroom Boxing wants to give Ruiz want he wants by fighting him in a neutral venue. On the other hand, both of them talk about they want to have it at home in Cardiff for the fans. With Joshua banging on about wanting to please his fans in the UK, he’s basically giving Hearn the green light to stage the fight there, because is wants to please him. More than that; Hearn NEEDS Joshua to win this fight. Joshua is Hearn’s #1 money maker in his Matchroom stable.
If Ruiz erases Joshua for a second time, the green stuff could evaporate rapidly. Joshua would have to be matched differently by Hearn from that point on to bring his boxing fans back. For that reason, it’s highly possible that talented American Ruiz will need to travel to the UK for the rematch.
Andy Ruiz is against fighting Joshua in UK
Ruiz Jr. is dead set against fighting Joshua in the UK, and he has plenty of reasons for not wanting it there. The recent Dillian Whyte situation, and the way it was handled by UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control, is just one of the reasons why Ruiz likely isn’t eager to fight Joshua in the UK.
The other reason for Ruiz’s trepidation about fighting in the UK might also have to do with how some Joshua’s fights have involved bizarre officiating. Examples of that were Joshua’s fights against Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam, both of which took place in Cardiff, Wales. The referee stopped the Joshua-Takam fight early while both were still landing shots.
In Joshua’s battle with Parker in 2018, the referee got in the way of the two fighters frequently when they were in close. It looked to some like the referee was protecting Joshua from Parker. To some fans, having the Joshua-Ruiz rematch take place in Cardiff is like going back to the scene of the crime. Obviously, Joshua isn’t bothered with fighting in Cardiff, because he’s not the one that got jobbed.
Joshua says he’ll have the edge against Ruiz fighting in front of 90,000 fans in UK
“It don’t matter to me where it is, there’s that aspect, but then there’s the other aspect of the British fans that have been riding with me from day one want to see me get them belts back,” said Joshua. “Walking out in Cardiff in front of 70, 80, 90,000 people screaming and rooting for you to win, that type of energy that goes through your body is unstoppable, and I think that could give me that little bit of edge I need to win those belts.”
It won’t necessarily help Joshua fighting in front of a large crowd in the UK. Joshua would have lost to Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 at Wembley Stadium if the Ukrainian fighter had finished him after he had him exhausted and hurt in the sixth. The crowd didn’t seem to help Joshua.