Joshua says he”ll fight another 5-10 years even if he loses Ruiz rematch

By Tim Royner:  Anthony Joshua won’t retire from boxing if he loses his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. on December 7th, according to Adam Smith of Sky Sports. He says Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) personally told him that he’ll continue with his career for another 5-10 years even if he gets beaten by Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) in their rematch in Diriyah Arena, in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

Smith believes that Joshua, 29, will need to drop down a level to fight slightly less talented heavyweights if he gets beaten again by IBF/WBA/WBO champion Ruiz. Adam says Joshua may need to fight these type of heavyweights to keep his career going:

• Dereck Chisora
• Joe Joyce
• Manuel Charr
• Kubrat Pulev
• Daniel Dubois
• Martin Balole
• Dillian Whyte

Those are guys that Joshua likely would be fighting even if he does beat Ruiz in the rematch.

Joshua will have it tough if he loses to Ruiz again – Smith

“I’m sure he’s preparing more diligently than ever,” said Adam Smith to IFL TV about Andy Ruiz Jr. “He’s had a longer camp, and he wants to prove he can do it all over again. It’s a huge fight for him. Everyone is talking about whether Anthony Joshua can come back, but if he [Ruiz] can win this, the world will be his oyster. There’s a unification fight against Deontay Wilder, and there’s a huge amount of money to be made in 2020.

“I’m sure it’s a fight he wants to win. Everyone is preparing for December the 7th. I hear Andy Ruiz is in wonderful shape, and is training very well. Joshua is training in Sheffield. It’s fine. Both fighters are clean, and we get on with it. For AJ, the first thing is he’s got to win the fight. That’s the only thing that matters to him. I think if he loses and loses as dramatically as he did the first time, it’s going to be tough,” said Smith about Joshua.

The chance of Joshua losing the rematch with Ruiz is high, but that’s what happens when fighters stubbornly take immediate rematches. From Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn’s perspective, it’s understandable why they’re doing it. The rematch clause is likely tilted heavily in Joshua’s favor in terms of the purse split.

If Joshua chose not to exorcise the rematch clause, then his split probably wouldn’t be as heavily in his favor when he chose to fight Ruiz later. There’s more money to be made for Joshua in fighting Ruiz now than if he decided to not use the rematch clause. But the negative about Joshua going for the immediate rematch is he has a high chance of losing.

Adam Smith: Joshua WON’T retire if he loses Ruiz rematch

“We’ll bring him back to London, I’m sure,” said Smith in talking about AJ. “He told me on the global tour that even if he loses, he’s going to fight another 5 to 10 years. There’s no talk of retirement or anything. He really wants to fight for a long, long time.

“There are other people who say if he loses again and loses twice in a row, maybe he’ll think again. He’ll have made a huge amount of money, and there will be other things he’ll want to do. I don’t know.

“He’s got to fight again. If he wins this, then he’s right back up there. Then he can talk about the Wilder’s and the Fury’s. He regains his titles like Lennox Lewis did, and he exacts revenge and back he comes. We have to wait and see what happens in Saudi. I’d like to see him fight back in Britain, yeah.

“When we get to 2020, I’m sure he’ll fight back in May or June in Britain again. We wanted this fight to happen in Britain, but it didn’t. It’s happening in Saudi. He’s getting a lot of money for it. I’m sure if he wins, he’ll be coming back to Britain next,” said Smith.

With all the winnable fights in the division for Joshua, there’s no reason why he should retire if he loses to Ruiz again. Joshua would be able to make big money facing WBC champion Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and Dillian Whyte.

Joshua’s immediate rematch could end badly for him

“Look, you don’t know how an individual will react until a fight happens,” said Smith when asked about the rumors that Joshua might retire if he loses Ruiz rematch. “He was devastated when he lost in the Garden [to Ruiz]. And he had to think about why that happened, and how that happened. Obviously, he took the rematch clause, and wants to go straight back into the fight.

“So he even believes he can win the rematch, and he believes he’s got the physical attributes to do it. Maybe he has. He can make this fight like the [Joseph] Parker fight, and it could be a much simpler fight than it was in the Garden.  Having said that, immediate rematches CAN go the same way, and Andy Ruiz may have the style that is always going to trouble Anthony Joshua. He’ll certainly be buoyed and full of confidence.

“Did Andy Ruiz party too much, and did he get to training camp too late? He’s had more of a training camp than he did last time. So he’s going to be in better shape, and AJ is going to be in better shape. So it could be an even better fight than it was in the Garden. But look, until the result happens, and until December the 8th, no one knows how a fighter is going to feel,” said Smith.

The odds-makers have Joshua installed as the favorite for the Ruiz rematch, but they were wrong last time. It’s unclear what Joshua can change in the rematch to give him a better shot at winning. If he has a referee that runs interference by keeping Ruiz off of him, then he can win. We saw that in Joshua’s fight against Joseph Parker in 2017.

Joshua should be able to come back from second loss

“What he’s [Joshua] saying now is he’s going to win the fight, but if he did lose, and it was a second loss on his record, what he was basically implying to me is he wants to carry on,” said Smith. “He wants to fight on. He’s always talked of wanting to fight for another eight, nine, 10 years. He’s talked of wanting to fight for a long time. I think he’s talked about wanting to fight well into his 30s, and deep into his 30s.

“He keeps himself in phenomenal shape, and fights a couple of times a year. There’s no reason why he can’t do that. But, he’ll have made a huge amount of money. Will he want to go through that, and if he loses again, what is there for him?” said Smith.

Joshua looked like a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders last June following his 7th round knockout loss to Ruiz. The way Joshua reacted to the defeat was troubling. He didn’t look like the defeat bothered him in the least. If that’s the case, then his chances of winning the rematch with Ruiz are slim. What do don’t know is what kind of referee and judges will be working the fight. This is after all a fight that is taking place in Saudi Arabia. It’s new territory for Joshua and Ruiz to be fighting in.

AJ will need to go down a level if he loses to Ruiz

“Does he go back to fighting your Manuel Charr’s, and your Kubrat Pulev’s at that sort of level,” said Smith about Joshua in talking about what he does next if he loses to Ruiz. “There’s Dereck Chisora, Dillian Whyte. There’s a lot of fights out there. This is the heavyweight division. You’ve got Joe Joyce, and Daniel Dubois, and Martin Bakole. He’s been sparring with AJ.

There are a load of fighters out there for him, but he’d have to go down a level probably if he loses to Andy Ruiz in dramatic fashion again. You’d have to ask AJ that on December 8th. But it’s a fight that he believes he can win.

“He’s the favorite in it. So if he regains his titles out in the desert, that conversation won’t be happening. He’ll be right back at the highest echelons of the heavyweight division. But if he loses, you and I will be asking him then,” said Smith about Joshua.

The heavyweights that Smith mentions in terms of Joshua DROPPING down a level are the type of fighters he’s been fighting all along. Joshua already fought Dillian Whyte. Chisora is more or less on the same level as past Joshua opponents Whyte, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin.

Bakole would be a step down for Joshua, but not a big one. Apart from his fight against injured Whyte in 2015, Joshua didn’t start fighting good opposition until 2016. Even then, Joshua fought an old 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, Dominic Breazeale and Charles Martin. Joshua didn’t step it up until 2017.  Even then, we saw the strange fight between him and Parker in Cardiff.