By Mark Eisner: Oscar De La Hoya is pulling for Andy ‘The Destroyer’ Ruiz Jr. to beat Anthony Joshua in their rematch in three months from now on December 7 in Saudi Arabia. De La Hoya thinks Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) may have Joshua’s number after destroying him in 7th round knockout on June 1 in New York. De La Hoya says he’ll be rooting for Ruiz Jr. to defeat Joshua for a second time.
Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) is working hard at making adjustments to his game for the rematch, and he’s counting on fixing the mistakes. It’s not going to be easy for Joshua. Ruiz showed that he could walk walk him down, and batter him with speedy combinations. Joshua’s mobility isn’t good enough for him to keep Ruiz off of him.
✈️ @anthonyfjoshua & @EddieHearn Saudi Arabia bound 🇸🇦 #RuizJoshua2 #ClashOnTheDunes presser tomorrow 👊 pic.twitter.com/EaNlv3wG3S
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) September 3, 2019
Former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua is going to need to make good adjustments for him to deal with the hand speed advantage that Ruiz has. Joshua isn’t quick on the inside, and he’s particularly adept at blocking shots in close. AJ does have a good uppercut, but that weapon might not help him if Ruiz is unloading on him with nonstop combinations. The rematch could end faster than the first fight, because Ruiz knows how to beat Joshua now.
Joshua may have adjusted his game plan says De La Hoya
“I was pretty intrigued by Eddie Hearn’s solo interview or press conference that he had without Anthony [Joshua], and without no fighters, which is a first, which was very odd, but we do things very differently here in America,” said De La Hoya to Fighthub. “But I think that if that fight happens, I’m obviously rooting for Andy Ruiz. I think he may have his [Joshua] number, but you can’t count out Joshua. He’s a guy that may have readjusted his game plan. He may have gone back to the gym, and said, ‘Let me get serious about boxing, and not being a celebrity. So we’ll see,” said De La Hoya about the Joshua vs. Ruiz rematch.
With Joshua’s power, he could win this fight if he stuns Ruiz with a big shot, and then flurries on him. Joshua’s punching power is good enough for him to take Ruiz out at any time. Additionally, with Joshua being the A-side in the fight, it’s possible that Ruiz could have problems if the referee impedes his ability to get to him. We saw that in the Joshua vs. Joseph Parker fight last year. The referee continually pulled Parker off of Joshua, and forced the fight to take place from the outside.
“We can say he’s fighting in November. We’re excited, and we’ll announce shortly,” said De La Hoya about Canelo Alvarez’s next fight. “Golden Boy Promotions is once again putting together the biggest events of the year, which we’re looking forward to. We’ll announce that shortly. I can’t give you a name right now, but it won’t be a guy that people are worried about, and scratching their heads, saying, ‘Why him?'” said De La Hoya.