Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz – 11 weeks away

By Boxing News - 09/21/2019 - Comments

By Dean Berman: Andy Ruiz Jr. will be defending his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua in 11 weeks from now in their rematch in Saudi Arabia on December 7. This is a fight where the boxing public will get a chance to learn about both guys.

Joshua and his team say his 7th round knockout loss to Ruiz on June 1 was a situation where he was caught by a lucky shot, and he could never recover from it. If that excuse turns out to be right, then Joshua should make short work of Ruiz in the rematch.

Joshua-Ruiz will be shown on DAZN and Sports Box office.

Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter says he wasn’t surprised to see Joshua lose to Ruiz Jr. Hunter (18-1, 12 KOs) is well familiar with the well-trained Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), and he viewed him as the better skilled fighter than Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs).

Hunter sees Joshua getting beaten in his rematch with Ruiz on December 7 in Saudi Arabia. Although Hunter views the rematch as a 50-50 match, he thinks it’ll likely end badly for Joshua.

It does’t matter that Joshua captured a controversial gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in London. He’s not as skilled as Ruiz Jr. in Hunter’s mind. Hunter expects the Joshua-Ruiz Jr. rematch to play out the same way with Joshua suffering a second shock defeat.

Hunter to fight on Joshua-Ruiz undercard on December 7

The 2012 U.S Olympian Hunter is being slated to fight on the Joshua-Ruiz undercard. There’s a possibility that he could be facing former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin. That’s who Hunter would like to fight. His promoter Eddie Hearn has mentioned wanting to put him in with Filip Hrgovic.

Hunter: Joshua will get beat again by Ruiz

“I wasn’t surprised,” said Hunter to IFL TV when asked about his reaction to Andy Ruiz Jr. stopping Anthony Joshua on June 1. “To me, Andy has the better skill-set, as far and better boxing IQ [than Joshua]. He has more experience in there with different type of opposition. Before the fight, I spoke on that, [saying] he’s not going to be a pushover. He’s never been knocked out. That was his first time being dropped as a professional. That was probably a surprise to him, but he’s a fighter. He’s Mexican. It’s going to be hard to beat that guy regardless. His only loss was to [Joseph] Parker, and that was very controversial.

I can see it going the same way this time as well, and I think this is more of a 50-50. I think Anthony definitely underestimated him. You could see it before the fight; he was giving his belts to the guy to hold, and being really nice. He was being soft and fluffy like he wasn’t going to do anything. I think he was too relaxed at the time. I think this time he has something to fight for, and he wants to get his belts back. So I think it’s going to be a battle,” said Hunter.

AJ cannot not get over aggressive like he did in the first fight. He got carried away in thinking that he was going to knock Ruiz out after knocking him down in round three. Any fighter would hvae done the same, but Joshua can’t make that mistake again.

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Joshua can win if he has the right mindset

“I think if he comes in with the right mindset. I can’t really tell if his mindset is right, but we’ll see,” said Hunter about Joshua. I’ve been in the ring with him [Ruiz] plenty of times. I used to spar Andy. I used to be in his camps and stuff, so I’m very familiar with Andy. So I’m excited and glad that he won. He deserves it. He’s been fighting for a long time. Anyone that has been fighting for that long, and having a tough road. He hasn’t had the easiest road as well. Anyone like that deserves their just due,” said Hunter.

Being mentally ready for Ruiz’s swarming style of fighting well serve Joshua well. He wasn’t ready in their first fight.