By Scott Gilfoid: Andy Ruiz Jr. says he’s going to ssystemically break Anthony Joshua down MENTALLY by pressuring him constantly, and hitting him to the head and body on December 7. Ruiz notes that Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) couldn’t handle the pressure from him last June, and he suspects that nothing will change in that respect in the rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Is Joshua’s decision to lose weight a sign of insecurity?
Joshua’s decision to trim down his Herculean physique will be a FAIL, according to IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs). Andy thinks that the weight loss may make the 29-year-old Joshua more susceptible to his big power punches. Since Joshua couldn’t handle his power last time, Ruiz believes he’ll be even more vulnerable after losing a lot of weight. You can die tin Joshua’s decision to lose muscle weight as a sign that he’s mentally not strong.
Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn haven’t disclosed how much weight he’s dropped, but in recent video of him, he’s looking painfully thin. You can tell that Joshua has really backed off from the weights, and is looking closer to the fighter he was when he first turned professional in 2013. AJ weighed 230 lbs at that point, and that was before he started driving the iron in a relentless manner.
Ruiz has questions about Joshua’s punch resistance
“AJ has always been in good shape, and he’s always looked good and really cut up,” said Ruiz. “I’ve seen some videos where he’s looked slimmed down. I don’t know if that’s going to be an advantage or a disadvantage.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to take the punches as well as he did when he weighed before. And for me, a lot of people have said I’ve lost too much weight, and that I’m not going to be as strong, and that he’s going to be able to move me around everywhere.
“I’m just losing eight more pounds from what I weighed June 1st. So I’m still going to be the same, and I’m still going to be strong. I just got to do what I got to do and what we’ve been practicing. And I never predict a fight and a knockdown. I just know that I’m going to die trying to keep this belt on December 7th. I’m ready to shock more people and the world,” said Ruiz.
Yeah, what Ruiz says makes a lot of sense about Joshua not being able to handle his power as well as he did before after losing weight. Joshua weighed 247 pounds for his previous fight with Ruiz on June 1.
If Joshua loses 10 lbs or so, he’ll be in the 230s, and that might be too light for him to take Ruiz’s shots. Andy says he’s going to be at approximately 260 for the fight. He weighed 268 lbs for his last fight with Joshua, and he’s saying he’s eight lbs lighter. Joshua might not be able to hold it together getting hit by Ruiz after his weight loss.
Anthony Joshua is the perfect style for me – Ruiz
“Fighters have to believe in themselves, and I believe in myself. I had the opportunity with Joseph Parker, and this time I wasn’t going to let the opportunity go,” said Ruiz to Matchroom Boxing. “I was going to do everything I had to do to win that fight, and that’s what I did on June 1st. After I fought Alexander Dimitrenko, I felt ready, and I felt in shape.
“I didn’t care about the five or six weeks I would have had if I had gotten the fight on June 1st. So I felt in my mind that I was already prepared, even though I was harassing Eddie Hearn, ‘Come on, bro. I’m ready. I feel good. I just won my first fight with PBC. I’m ready to fight,’ and he ended up giving me the opportunity and I took advantage of it.
“Before I got the fight, they kept saying, ‘Who would you rather fight, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder?’ I kept saying, ‘Anthony Joshua,’ because of his style. I think he was the perfect style for me to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world,” said Ruiz.
More than anything, Joshua’s tendency to stand in front of his opponents, it makes him the ideal guy for Ruiz to fight. Andy does well against guys that want to stand and lob right hand bombs, and left hooks the way Joshua does. The fighters that have given Ruiz some difficulties in the past are movers like Joseph Parker.
Unfortunately for Joshua, he’s unable to move because he’s got a bodybuilder’s physique. It doesn’t matter how much weight Joshua trims off, he’s STILL going to possess a bodybuilder’s physique.
Ruiz admits to getting lazy when hurt by Joshua
“You know where he got me, I was feeling lazy,” said Ruiz in recollecting on his third round knockdown by Joshua. “I was feeling good the first three rounds, and I think I got a little lazy, and he got me with an uppercut and a hook. And I think I was standing up too tall for him to get me instead of staying low where I was making it difficult for him. I know what I did wrong,” Ruiz continued in remembering what went wrong against Joshua in round 3.
“And I watched the video 100 times. It was a blink of an eye, and your on the floor. I’m like, ‘What the hell? What just happened?’ I don’t think I was that hurt, and I still had the will and fire in me to keep fighting and win the fight,” said Ruiz about his June 1 fight with Joshua. “And I had to do everything possible to try and change the fight, and that’s exactly what I did with the left hook that I got him, but it was a good shot,” said Ruiz Jr.
Joshua and Ruiz throwing shots in close, and AJ caught him with a nice left hook that put him down in the 3rd round last June. That’s what actually ended up costing Joshua the fight.
Ruiz got up off the canvas and was like a mad bull that was seeing red. Joshua didn’t know better, and tried to exchange with the upset Ruiz. That was the wrong thing to do. Joshua should have read Ruiz’s body language and gotten out of town. In hindsight, Joshua should have played matador, and dodged Ruiz instead of trying to finish him off.
Andy Ruiz wanted referee to stop fight sooner
“I was the better fighter that day because I was pressuring him, and throwing more punches,” said Ruiz in analyzing his win over Joshua. “And, of course, the body shots kind of put him down a lot more. I was looking at the referee like, ‘What’s going on? I won already,’ because he kept counting and counting. Anthony Joshua looked like he didn’t want to continue.
“Ever since then, I felt like I won. After I saw the referee waive it off, that was one of the happiest days of my life. When I was with Top Rank, they didn’t give me big fights. They didn’t let my talent show to fight with elite fighters. If I’d have been here with Manny [Robles], I think I would have won with Joseph Parker when I fought over there in New Zealand.
“With the other trainers, they wouldn’t pressure me, and they wouldn’t make me throw a lot of different punches and use a lot of head movement. Now that I have Manny here at my side, it couldn’t have gone any better. I think we got more things done,” Ruiz said.
After Joshua spat out his gum shield in the 7th round, it was clear that the situation was BLEAK for him. When a fighter starts spitting their gumshields out, it tells you that they’re desperate and looking to buy time.
The referee Michael Griffin gave Joshua a HUGE break by not penalizing him a point for spitting out his mouthpiece. He certainly could have and should have done that, After Joshua turned around and put his arms on the side of the ropes, he let the referee know with his body language that he was quitting.
Joshua won’t surprise Ruiz if he moves a lot
“We’ve been practicing with what we think AJ is going to do,” said Ruiz. “We got sparring partners that are going to be running around, being slick. So we’re going to be prepared for everything he’s going to bring.
“A lot of people came to me and said they want to help. We got Michael Hunter, who is going to be fighting over there too. He’s been helping me out too. We got a great team, and we got a great camp right now.
“The main thing is to do what we got to do, and have fun for December 7th. At first, I thought we were going to fight in New York. I would have loved it there too. We could have run it back, and I know that’s where a lot of people wanted us to do it. After they said Saudi Arabia, we felt a little iffy about it.
“Until we went over there, and we have seen how the country is. It’s really a beautiful country. I don’t see why people are scared of going over there. It’s really safe. Everybody is scared of doing something wrong because of the laws. It couldn’t have been a better place than Saudi Arabia,” said Ruiz.
It would be interesting if Joshua DIDN’T move a lot in the rematch, but he probably will. Since everyone already knows that Joshua is going to move like mad, there’s no surprise element. Ruiz is already expecting him to run like crazy.
That’s why it would be smart for Joshua NOT to use movement, because Ruiz has already been adequately prepared for that. The other thing that boxing fans believe Joshua will try to do is clinch at every opportunity.
Andy Jr. hopes Joshua wants to “BANG”
“Thanks to Al Haymon, he gave me the opportunity with Alexander Dimitrenko,” said Ruiz in remarking how Haymon created the opportunity to get Joshua fight. “That’s when the doors opened for me. Ever since then, my life has changed after I won the Anthony Joshua fight.
“There’s still more to prove. I don’t want to go over there and give him my belts that I won fair and square, but I do want to prove everybody wrong. That it was the hard work and dedication and faith that I had.
“If he wants to bang, it’s even better for me. I’d love to bang. That’s the kind of fighter I am. A lot of people that haven’t seen me cut off the ring with the people that try to box me around.
It’s pretty obvious that Joshua will end up slugging it out with Ruiz Jr. on December 7th . AJ’s trainer Rob McCracken likely has put together a game plan that entails a lot of spoiling, but Joshua isn’t going to stick with that when things start going downhill for him.
Like other fighters, Joshua will revert to his normal brawling style once he gets tired of running and holding. I don’t think holding will work against Ruiz, because Joshua will get battered in trying to do that.
Ruiz plans on BREAKING Joshua mentally
“I actually break them down even faster when they try and box me around,” said Ruiz. “I think that’s what we got to do. We’ve got to follow the game plan that we’ve been planning at the boxing gym, and what Manny Robles has been practicing.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to box around. We’ve got to pressure, work the body and break him down, and especially his mentality,” said Ruiz in predicting what Joshua will attempt to do on December 7th.
AJ definitely looked mentally fragile in their previous fight. Once Joshua realized that Ruiz wasn’t giving up after being dropped, he looked like a bully that had met his match.
Joshua looked the same way he did in his knockout loss to Mihai Nistor in the 2011 Quarter-Finalist at the European Championships in Ankara, Turkey. The hard-hitting southpaw Nistor broke Joshua mentally with his his pressure, and his head-hunting.
Joshua is the one with pressure on him – Ruiz
“We’ve got to see where he’s at. All the pressure is on him right now,” said Ruiz. “I don’t feel the pressure is on me, because I follow my dreams. Of course, I want to do more.
“I want to have a legacy for Andy Ruiz Jr. Not just for me, but for my kids. So I feel he has more pressure than I do. I’ve got to show more of my skills, and more of my talent, and I’ve just got to do what I do best,” said Ruiz.
Both fighters are going to have pressure on them in this rematch. With the fight being in Saudi Arabia, Ruiz will have it tough in terms of the crowd, judges and very likely the referee as well. This isn’t a venue designed for Ruiz. The basic set-up for this fight favors Joshua in a huge way.
It’s likely going to be mostly British boxing fans that are making the long trek to go Saudi Arabia. Joshua is the star, and you can assume that things will go in his favor in terms of the officiating.
You can’t rule out a referee that prevents fighting on the inside like the one that worked the Joshua vs. Joseph Parker fight. Ruiz is the one that is going to have pressure on him, because he likely won’t get the decision if it goes the distance.
This is a venue that Joshua’s wily promoter Eddie Hearn picked out. That tells you all you need to know about this venue. Let’s mince words. This is NOT a neutral venue. It’s going to be like Joshua fighting in London or in Cardiff, and Ruiz needs to be prepared to knockout Joshua if he wants to win.