By Charles Brun: Oscar De La Hoya believes that Anthony Joshua won’t make any corrections at all in his game for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. on December 7. De La Hoya says Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) has been fighting with the same style – and same flaws – his entire career, so he’s NOT going to improve for his rematch with Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs).
Joshua’s trainer Rob McCracken hasn’t improved his conditioning, defense or mobility. Despite the one-sided loss to Ruiz, Joshua has decided to stick it out with McCracken to the bitter end. Sadly, we might see Joshua’s career implode in his next fight. A second loss for Joshua against Ruiz is game over for all intents and purposes for the 2012 Olympic gold medalist.
Joshua wants to win back his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles that he lost to the American Ruiz last June in New York. Ruiz embarrassed Joshua in knocking him down 4 times in the process of stopping him in the 7th round at Madison Square Garden in New York. Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn wanted to create a new fan base in the United States, which is why agreed to face Ruiz there. AJ and Hearn have since given up on the U.S, and are taking the rematch with Ruiz to Saudi Arabia.
Joshua-Ruiz 2 will be the same result says De La Hoya
“I think we’re going to have the same result,” said De la Hoya to the boxing media about the Joshua-Ruiz 2 rematch. “I think Andy Ruiz probably has his number. The fact that Ruiz is going to get better. He’s going to get faster, and probably stronger. I don’t think Anthony Joshua is going to correct anything. He’s been fighting all these years.
As a fighter, it doesn’t make me think he can change things up, but who knows? In boxing when you’re a heavyweight, and he has that heavy punch, anything can change. But I just think Ruiz has the better chin, and has less distractions than what Joshua has,” said De La Hoya.
Joshua says he was out of it from round 3 after being clipped hard by a left hook that he never saw from Ruiz. If that excuse is the true reason for Joshua’s loss, then he should easily rectify things in his rematch with Ruiz Jr. on December 7 in Saudi Arabia. But even at Joshua’s very best during the early moments of the Ruiz fight, he was getting out-boxed. AJ looked like he was out of his element from the outset against the surprisingly quicker, more agile Ruiz.
Ruiz showed that Joshua’s over-muscled physique is a hindrance
The question is, how was a chubby 268-lb Ruiz faster than Joshua? The fact is that fighters that have bodybuilder physiques generally don’t do well over the long term in boxing. Yeah, they have success for periods during their career depending how skillfully their promoter matches them, but they get found out eventually. You’ve got to give Hearn a lot of credit for taking Joshua as far as he did with his match-making. Up until Joshua fought Ruiz, Hearn had made the right fights for AJ. Hearn never matched Joshua against the dangerous guys like Deontay Wilder, Ruiz and Luis Ortiz. Joshua lucked out in his fights against Wladimir Klitschko and Dillian Whyte. Both guys could have beaten AJ under different circumstances.
De La Hoya willing to stage event in Saudi Arabia
“Absolutely,” said De La Hoya when asked if Golden Boy would stage a fight in Saudi Arabia. “If a Canelo or any world champion we have, then why not? I think they’ve proved that it can be safe. They’ve been there, and had press conferences. They’ve had other events like the WWE, and the WBSS. So we have no problems [fighting in Saudi Arabia]. You have to take a look at the Commissions, and the safety of the fighters is most important.
“Are they prepared for any type of situation that might take place? It’s unknown. It’s an untapped market. If you have a guarantee, and the promoter doesn’t really care what tickets they sell. What’s most important is the fighter’s safety is well taken care of, meaning is the commission well prepared to handle any situation? That’s what I see,” said De La Hoya about concerns he would have staging an event in Saudi Arabia.