Anthony Joshua finally speaks up on where he would like the Andy Ruiz rematch to take place!
Well, before the UK superstar Anthony “AJ” Joshua ever stepped foot in America, there were questions about his overall confidence. The muscle-bound fighter had never performed outside of his UK comfort zone and gave zero impression that he wanted to.
He and his team were content to perform in front of their enormous home-grown audience. However, this led to folks questioning his status as a true “world champion.”
WORLD CHAMPION OR LOCAL TOUGH MAN?
Throughout the boxing world there was a growing speculation that AJ couldn’t get it done on the road. Sure, he could perform well in his own backyard, but did he have the stones and mental strength to win on the road?
Spurred by a desire to annihilate this nagging criticism and lay hands on a lush American payday, Team Joshua made the trek across the Atlantic to test their mettle. In against Andy “Destroyer” Ruiz Jr, things did not go well!
As history has recorded, Joshua traveled to New York’s famed Madison Square Garden where he was promptly roughed up, repeatedly dropped and ultimately denuded of his belts. AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, publicly announced Team Joshua would enact the immediate rematch clause.
In fact, Hearn issued the swift declaration almost before the two fighter could exit the ring. However, after a full two months, we are still waiting on a fight date and venue.
This is somewhat odd considering Hearn refuses to stop reiterating the fact that Team Joshua has total control of the rematch’s location. Yet, if this is true, what is the hang up? In a recent interview Joshua supplied information that once again inspired more questions than it answered.
Even more troubling, AJ tried to sound nonchalant but insinuated himself that he would need to fight at home in order to have the mental edge to defeat Ruiz.
“I’ll never forget in the Olympics when I walked out, I tried to block out the energy in that room and it was the worst thing because I was fighting a battle that I couldn’t win. So walking out in Cardiff in front of 70, 80, 90,000 people screaming and rooting for you to win, that type of energy that goes through your body is unstoppable!
“I think that could give me that little bit of edge I need to win those belts.”
IS IT MENTAL OR CHEMICAL?
Is this what happened when AJ came out in America? Did he hear that rowdy crowd, a crowd not overwhelmingly in his favor and begin to crack up mentally? The near universal opinion regarding Joshua v Ruiz is that AJ “did not look like himself.”
Perhaps, the UK kingpin has unwittingly just confessed to needing his UK security blanket venues to perform at peak level. Or could it be even more sinister than that? Perhaps, AJ needs more than the congratulatory vibrations of cheering fans rushing through his body.
Both Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte have accused Joshua of receiving hush-hush TUE’s (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) in the UK. Both Miller and Whyte themselves were flagged for dirty PED’s samples and embroiled in extremely public scandals. At the time of accusations, all three heavyweights were affiliated with Matchroom Boxing.
Whyte’s situation, the most recent scandal, was punctuated with an unheard secret meeting the same day of the fight in order grant him permission to compete. This international debacle inspired countless individuals to advise Andy Ruiz Jr at all costs not to fight in the UK.
“But I’m going to battle for it to be in the UK because it’s my stomping ground. I done one out there, so let’s do the rematch here[…]but then there’s the other aspect of the British fans that have been riding with me from day one want to see me get them belts back.
“It’s fine, I don’t mind fighting him in America,. I’ve done it before and I’d love to fight here because I had no reason to go in the first place. I went there off my own back!
So for the rematch now, I would love it to be in Cardiff. However, [if] it’s going to be on neutral ground, Ruiz is the champ. We’ll kind of make some calls as well in that situation.”
THE WAITING GAME CONTINUES
So, even after hearing it from the horse’s mouth, we still have no conclusive answers as too where the rematch will be staged. Furthermore, Joshua has not proven just yet that he can be a “world champion” by winning on the road.
Even worse, once again, AJ is giving the impression that he is content to stay nailed down at home so he can do it for the “British fans.”
Then of course, we are still light years away from reaching a definitive conclusion to the Whyte/UKAD controversy. Making this the absolute worst time to be forcefully demanding that the fight take place in the United Kingdom.
It goes without saying, there are a lot of moving parts in this situation!
From New York, Mexico, Cardiff and now most recently Saudia Arabia being possible venues to host the rematch, hopefully boxing fans will get a solid announcement on the venue soon. Although, it wouldn’t be a smart idea to hold your breath!
3kingsboxing will continue to follow and report on these on-going negotiations.
By: Bakari Simpson
