Andy Ruiz Jr believes Anthony Joshua will not want to trade int he rematch!
With just under two months to go, WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO world heavyweight champion Andy “Destroyer” Ruiz Jr (33-1, 22 KO’s) is anxious to for his December 7 showdown in Saudi Arabia. There he will face former heavyweight world champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (22-1, 21 KO’s) in a highly anticipated rematch. The title laden bout will be aired live on the DAZN app.
When the two first clashed in Madison Square Garden on June 1, most viewed the Destroyer as a marked underdog. The bout marked Joshua’s first foray into the American market. If successful, which was generally assumed he would be, the loose plan was to go on and make a mega-fight with WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KO’s).
Regrettably for AJ, not only did he merely not win the contest, he was beaten, battered and bruised in terrifically embarrassing fashion. In the end, Ruiz knocked Joshua down four times total and stopped him in the seventh round. Despite the multitude of knockdowns, the UK superstar ended the fight unresponsively on his feet leading a substantial contingent of fans to believe that he actually quit.
Ironically, despite his overtly dominant performance, Ruiz Jr is once again largely being labeled as the underdog. Regardless of why so many are determined to view him as the lesser fighter the Destroyer is not sweating it. After cashing in on the major payday that Joshua supplied Ruiz took it upon himself to purchase a great many material items ranging from jewelry to a new home for his mother.
Obviously, this was seen as imprudent behavior because as a direct result the new champ’s dedication was brought into question. Countless stories and social media posts were published which indicated that Ruiz was no longer focused and taking his new found position for granted. Ruiz chuckles at these accusations as well.
In fact, not only does the Destroyer insist that he is hard at work in camp, he says this is one of his best training camps yet. As the first Mexican heavyweight in the history of the sport he elected to conduct a large portion of his camp in Mexico. This was a decision the unified heavyweight champion is very pleased with as discussed in an interview with Behind the Gloves.
“You know what it was pretty hard at first because the altitude was pretty high. But we were running in the mountains, doing a lot of different drills but I think that everything is going to show on December 7. All the hard work that we did over there in Guadalajara.”
Let him tell it, not only will be more physically fit this time around his power will be more apparent.
Ruiz is equally as confident that while AJ might try to win, he will not attempt to do so by way of knockout. Personally, Ruiz believes that Joshua is still rattled by their previous encounter and will aim to play it safe as much as is possible.
“Of course not man, ten pounds is not going to make any difference. If anything that’s going to make me stronger. It’s going to make me faster. So you know, especially since he’s going to be running around.
“So I think he’ll be trying to win on points and my job is to cut the ring and do what I got to do let my hands go which is exactly what we’re been training at the gym.”
By: Bakari Simpson
