Anthony Joshua defeats Andy Ruiz with ease!
The most anticipated rematch of 2019 came as unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz (33-1, 22KO) wanted to prove the first fight was no fluke and Anthony Joshua (22-1, 21KO) looked to regain the glory he lost!
Before both men entered the ring, a bit of controversy was struck from both sides. Joshua would elect to lose some muscle mass in order to conserve his energy while utilizing movement and boxing.
Meanwhile, Ruiz claimed to come in lighter than the 268 pounds he weighed for the first fight, however, he tipped the scales at 283 pounds at the weigh-in. This gave credibility to the rumors that the unified champion started training camp late due to falling in love with the money and fame he suddenly gained.
The Expected Game-Plan
Ruiz claimed in many interviews that he expected Joshua to use the ring behind his jab. Therefore, he worked on his conditioning to get closer to the taller fighter.
At 6’6″ with an 82″ reach, the former unified champion boasted a four inch height and a whopping eight inch reach advantage! Joshua would immediately execute the expected game-plan as he peppered the shorter champion with stiff jabs and well timed straight right hands.
One of those right hands landed with authority at the end of the first round that looked as if Ruiz’ neck may have broken. While his neck was still intact, his left eye would suffer the damage as blood would start to flow from a fresh cut!
However, the damage would be reciprocated in the very next round as a cut opened over Joshua’s left eye. The former champion did an excellent job of boxing and definitely won the round but it was difficult to see how he suffered the cut. Ruiz didn’t seem to land anything of significance in the round.
Sticking To What Works
Joshua stuck and moved for the entire fight! Just as he should have done in their first meeting, the former unified champion jabbed to setup the straight right, moved and repeated. He made the smaller champion a one-dimensional fighter as he should have.
Ruiz had his moments, but they only came when Joshua stopped moving or was in between jabs.
There were times where the champ would land the big right hook that ultimately started the end of Joshua in their first fight. The crowd would explode in anticipation of a knockdown, however, Joshua would recover and go back to boxing.
Ruiz never made an attempt to make any adjustments. He literally followed the former champion around the ring, hoping he would get another window of opportunity to land a big, fight ending shot.
The opportunities were there. The difference in this fight was when hit, Joshua did not fall!
The former unified champion is not known for taunting or show-boating in the ring, but found it justified to do so as he controlled the fight with ease!
A Trilogy?
Joshua would regain his titles back taking minimal damage this time as the scorecards read 118-110 x2 and 119-109.
Post fight, both men talked about having a third fight. The money that both stand to gain would seem to be massive.
However, when Ruiz stated,
“who wants to see the third triogy fight here in Saudi Arabia,”
the crowd seemed to boo more than applaud! Maybe this was due to the performance Ruiz put forth which really doesn’t call for a trilogy?
I guess we will see what happens next! Stay tuned with 3kingsboxing.com as we cover the latest on what happens next between these two!
On a side note, Joshua claimed he would not continue to call out WBC champion Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury because it makes him lose focus on the opponents he has ahead of him!
By: EJ Williams
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