By Jeff Aronow: Adam Smith of Sky Sports was SHOCKED at the weight that Andy Ruiz Jr. came in on Friday’s weigh-in for his rematch against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) came in at 283 lbs, but surprisingly he didn’t look any different than the 268 lbs he weighed in for the AJ bout in New York. Joshua wants to avenge his loss from last June, but he’s going to have to overcome Ruiz’s 46-pound weight advantage to do that.
Smith believes that Ruiz’s weight is a sign that he’s going to go all out for a fast knockout of Joshua tonight, because he’ll be more powerful. The extra weight will add to Ruiz’s already impressive power, and he hasn’t lost his hand speed, Smith notes. With Joshua having drained down 10 pounds to 237 lbs from the 247 lbs that he weighed for their first fight last June, Ruiz will have have a massive 46 lb weight surplus over AJ.
Joshua looks older and ragged
What Smith didn’t touch on was how used up Joshua looks from his recent weight loss. Losing 10 lbs seems to have AGED Joshua, giving him an older appearance than in his previous match against Ruiz. Oftentimes when a person loses a lot of weight, they look older, as if the punishing ordeal of dropping weight rapidly taxes their system, causing aging to occur. You see that when people take off weight rapidly, as Joshua has done.
Joshua looked like he’d aged 10 years at Friday’s weigh-in from the guy that had fought Ruiz just six months ago. AJ’s face looked older, and his physique looked like it had aged as well. His hair looked like he’d slept outside. He didn’t look groomed at all, and that tells me that mentally, Joshua was hit hard by his 7th round knockout loss to Ruiz.
Adam Smith: Ruiz coming in for power
“Andy Ruiz Jr., wow, 20 stone 3. The heaviest he weighed was 21, and he weighed 19 [stone] 2 in the Garden,” said Adam Smith to IFL TV. “That’s a whopping weight for Andy Ruiz. He’s had a 12 weeks camp, and preparation. He told us at the fighter’s meeting this week that he could come in slightly heavier.
“I was not expecting a weight like that. He’s obviously coming in for power. We saw the hand speed still evident during the workouts on Tuesday, but he’s obviously coming [at that weight] because he thinks he can take out Joshua. As far as AJ goes, very good weights [237 lbs]. Just under 17 stones, one of his lightest for a world title fight, and one of his lightest ever throughout his career.
“That’s a sensible weight for Joshua, because he’s going to be looking to use his feet, and use his long jab and look to out-box Ruiz. What a difference between them. Over three stone between them this time. That’s a big difference. They’ve got a game plan,” said Smith about Joshua,” said Smith.
237 lbs is NOT sensible for Joshua going against a fighter that is outweighing him by almost 50 lbs. Considering that Joshua is still with trainer Rob McCracken, it’s not not unexpected that he’s lost all this weight. Rob obviously thinks Joshua will be better with the weight loss, but he could be proven wrong.
Joshua lacks the cardio to brawl with Ruiz
The smart thing for Joshua to have done was to stay at the same weight as the first fight, and just focus on boxing Ruiz. Joshua got tired last time by choosing to mix it up with the better conditioned Ruiz, and he couldn’t handle the pace. Unfortunately for big Joshua, he doesn’t have cardiovascular system to brawl for an extended period of time. Joshua can brawl, but only for very short periods. In that respect, Joshua is like a Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican superstar Canelo is only capable of fighting hard for brief periods before needing a long rest break to replenish his energy stores.
Joshua is the same exact way, and that’s why Wladimir Klitschko lost to him in 2017. Wladimir had Joshua gassed out in rounds 6-9, but he failed to shoot for the knockout. By the 11th, Joshua had enough rest to once again attack Wladimir with a furious assault of heavy shots, and he stopped him.
If Joshua boxes Ruiz tonight, he has a chance of winning, but it’s going to be hard. That big weight advantage that Ruiz has going for him is going to allow him to the lighter Joshua with every punch, and he might not be able to make it passed the third round this time.
Ruiz Jr. will empty his tanks for quick knockout of Joshua
“They probably need to take center ring, get the jab going to use his feet, and box in patches,” said Smith. “I think he’s going to try to wobble Ruiz and hurt Ruiz as well. I don’t think he’s going to want to do that round after round, and Ruiz sort of gathering momentum.
“And I think what it does show is Ruiz is going to go all out at the beginning. I think he’s going to take off where he left off, and I think he’s going to go for it in the early rounds. What happens if he doesn’t get rid of Joshua? Is he going to start being affected by a lack of conditioning? He’s come in big for power.
“It’s a really intriguing difference in weight. That’s a big, big gap. He had a short 5 week camp for Dimitrenko. Maybe he doesn’t suit a long camp? They were saying he looks fantastic. [Trainer] Manny Robles was very happy where he is, and he told us he was going to come in heavy. We didn’t expect this. There’s a lot to read into [this].
“Obviously, they’ve come in at that weight for a reason, and it must be that they think they’re going to take out Anthony Joshua, and probably quickly. But if they don’t, what will happen?” said Smith.
Ruiz will likely go for a quick finish tonight, because he already has the memory of how to beat Joshua. That’s the whole problem with Joshua’s decision to take a quick rematch with Ruiz instead of waiting a year or two. If Joshua had waited, Ruiz would have forgotten how to beat him, and he would have a better chance of winning the rematch.