By Charles Brun: Carl Froch is one of the many people that have serious doubts about whether Andy Ruiz Jr. truly weighed 283 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in for his fight against Anthony Joshua on Saturday. Former super middleweight champion Froch says Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) didn’t look like he weighed over 20 stone [280 lbs] during the weigh-in.
Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) weighed in at 237 lbs., and appeared slim and in outstanding shape. He’ll be looking to win back his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles from Ruiz on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia.
In comparing pictures from the weigh-ins for both Joshua-Ruiz fights, Ruiz looked exactly the same size. The only difference is Ruiz was wearing clothes, and huge sombrero.
Some boxing fans believe that Ruiz had 15 lbs of weights hidden on his body somewhere. It could have been hidden inside his oversized sombrero or perhaps around his ankles. With weight hidden various places around his body, Ruiz could easily have been carrying an extra 15 lbs.
Froch questions Ruiz’s weight
“Is that genuine weight 20 stone, because I’m still not sure,” said Hearn to IFL TV in questioning the 283 lbs that Ruiz weighed in at on Friday. “He didn’t look 20 stone. He didn’t look bigger than he was before. If that weights correct, I don’t think it’s good news to be honest for Team Ruiz.
“I think that’s too heavy. He was fully clothed, and he might have had something in his pockets. Ruiz still had his vest on, so I don’t know. 20 stone is too heavy for a fighter 6’2”. He’s thinking, ‘Listen, he’s in trouble later on. He’s going to slow down, he’s too heavy.
“It’s far too much weight. He’s not in the best of shape, is he? So if it is 20 stone, it’s extra fat. It’s extra flesh. He could do without it, but he’s a big lug. He’s fat. We’ve seen the speed even with the weight at 19 stone, so. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not ideal,” said Froch.
280 lbs is obviously too much weight for Ruiz to be carrying for this fight, and that’s why it’s hard to believe that he’s not playing psychological games with Joshua. Ruiz hasn’t weighed over 280 pounds since 2009, and he wouldn’t be crazy enough to let himself go for such an important fight.
There’s massive money involved for Ruiz if he can win this fight, and then face the winner of the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury 2 rematch.
If Joshua goes home tonight, thinking, ‘He’s not taking the fight seriously,’ he may get his hopes up for nothing. Joshua would be in for a huge shock when Ruiz is just as fast, and his stamina just as good as last time.
280 lbs is too heavy for Ruiz
“I would have liked to have seen Ruiz come in a little bit lighter to show that he’s taking it seriously to try to win, but you can read too much into weigh-ins,” said Froch. “There’s so many different conspiracies, and so many different stories. If it’s 20 stone, it’s a bit too heavy. AJ is light, he’s had a great camp.
‘I’m tipping back to AJ now. My heart says AJ, but my head says Ruiz, because of what happened in the first fight. After today, I’m thinking, Come on, AJ, go do the business.’ We all want AJ to win. You know that. I’m just honest. That was a tough loss in the first fight. It would be hard to re-write that and rectify it. But it can be done,” said Froch.
There’s very little chance that Ruiz’s true weight is 283 lbs for this fight. If Joshua doesn’t understand that Ruiz is playing games with him, then it’ll be too bad for him on Saturday night.
