Former unified heavyweight champion American-Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr. (34-2, 22 KOs) is familiar firsthand with Briton Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) – had two fights in a row in 2019. At first, Ruiz sensationally beat Joshua, took away the WBA Super, IBF, WBO belts, but missed them in an immediate rematch.
In September, in London (England), the Briton lost the same titles to Ukrainian Alexander Usik (19-0, 13 KOs) and will try to return them on August 20 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). This time, Joshua comes into the fight as an underdog.
Ruiz still thinksthat the British have a chance. But small: “If Usyk had made the same mistake as me — playing the fool and not preparing for revenge — then I think Joshua would have had excellent chances. But I’m sure that won’t happen. After all, Usyk has been in the top for a long time, he was an absolute in cruiserweight. He never had discipline problems. How will the second fight go? Personally, I see several scenarios. Moreover, Joshua invited coach Robert Garcia to his place, and he will teach him how to fight in the Mexican style: aggression, a lot of punches, work as the first number, pressure.
“But Usyk is good too. He’s also uncomfortable, plus he’s left-handed,” Ruiz remembers. “That’s the reason why we chose southpaw Luis Ortiz next. We want to prepare for a possible fight with him. It’s hard to work with left-handers even during sparring. I’m sure Joshua is sparring a lot right now, because he needs to be ready for several options for fighting, have several styles in stock, be able to adapt to the opponent.
Ruiz does not hide that he dreams of a third fight with Joshua, he is ready to fight him “even if he loses to Usyk in a rematch. After all, we should have a trilogy. Why the third fight? Well, he got the opportunity to fight for the lost belts again, so I should get another chance.
In the meantime, Ruiz is moving along the WBC line – the fight with Ortiz will be an eliminator according to this version. And then the ex-champ wants to fight Wilder: “It’s easy to arrange.”
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