By Geno McGahee
On June 1st, Andy Ruiz, JR., 33-1, 22 KO’s, sent a shockwave through the boxing world by knocking out the undefeated and highly regarded champion, Anthony Joshua, 22-1, 21 KO’s, taking away the WBO, WBA and IBF titles. For many, Joshua was the best heavyweight in the division, taking out former king Wladimir Klitschko and some other notables like Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker. Going into the Ruiz, JR., fight, the match wasn’t considered competitive, outside of a puncher’s chance, which turned out to be the case and, actually, turned out to be more than that.
There were signs that Joshua may not have the best chin in the world. Dillian Whyte really shook him up, Alexander Povetkin stunned him badly with a left hook and Wladimir Klitschko dropped him. Getting dropped by Wlad is nothing to be ashamed of though. In all cases, Joshua came back and won in style. The difference between the other fighters that Joshua has faced and Ruiz, JR., was the combination punching and speed. Despite his appearance, Ruiz, JR., is incredibly quick and throw combinations, which was how he came away with the knockout victory in June.
In their first bout, Joshua would land a crushing left hook that dropped Ruiz, JR., but he got up and landed his own left hook to drop Joshua and the fight was essentially over at that point. Joshua had no answer. When he went on the attack, this swarm of hard punches, too quick to stop, were coming at him. When he tried to jab, Ruiz, JR., attacked. There was no answer and it led to the shocking moment of the night, more shocking than the loss, when the heavyweight champion of the world quit. Round 7, the man that got off the floor to knock out Klitschko, gave up.
This Saturday, we have the rematch. Taking place in Saudia Arabia, a terrible place desperately looking for legitimacy by putting down tons of money for sporting events, it will be unique surroundings for the two big men. For many that said that Joshua was distracted by fighting out of the UK in the last fight, this seems like another problem that he may have put in front of him. Not that it’s good for Ruiz, JR. Considering the location, the two should be happy to make it home safely after the fight.
Going into this rematch, Joshua is saying and doing the right things. He has trimmed down the muscle, got back to basics, got his hunger back and so on and so forth, but there are two major things going against him in this fight. One, the counter punching of Ruiz, JR., is going to be there and there early. Expect Ruiz, JR., to initiate exchanges to land his shots. Joshua’s plan will most likely be jabbing and systematically breaking down Ruiz without engaging too much, but Ruiz, JR., will not allow that. Joshua will have to knock out Ruiz, JR., early if he hopes to win this match, but it’s not likely.
From the opening bell, I expect Ruiz, JR., to be Mike Tyson in there. He is going to try to bring back the memories of June in MSG and see if Joshua will crumble early. For Joshua to get back his confidence, he has to make it out of the early rounds and build some momentum in the fight, but that won’t be easy. He’s not Ali. He’s known for being a destroyer. I don’t think he can make enough adjustments and change his style enough to take the titles back.
PREDICTION
Joshua will come out pumping the jab, keeping the distance, but Ruiz, JR., will engage early and land early and it won’t take long before AJ starts to retreat and the flashbacks hit. Ruiz, JR., will have the fight he wants within 2 rounds and have AJ stopped by round five, holding onto the titles by dramatic KO.
Ruiz JR KO-4 AJ
