Brit regains the three world titles he lost to Andy Ruiz Jr
Anthony Joshua regained the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles he lost to Andy Ruiz Jr back in New York in June, comprehensively defeating him in this rematch on points, in a newly created 15,000 seat arena in the Riyadh suburb of Diriyah in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. Joshua thus became a two time world heavyweight champion, joining some impressive company such as Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko and Floyd Patterson as heavyweights who have reclaimed a world title. Not bad company to be in.
This was much more like the Joshua the world has got used to seeing, prior to the huge upset against Ruiz last time around.
In fact, this was possibly an even better Joshua, weighing in at 16st 3lbs, his lightest ever for a world title fight and lightest since 2014. It suited him well – he was light on his feet, extremely mobile, and looked very fresh even at the end of the fight.
His conditioning was in marked contrast to that of his opponent. Ruiz weighed a stone more than he was in their first fight – weighing in at a whopping 20 stone 3lb. Ruiz admitted afterwards that he’d spent the majority of his time since that fight celebrating that famous victory and partying. One look at his waistline confirmed that – it wasn’t a pretty sight.
Joshua started impressively. In the very first round, he cut Ruiz around his left eye with a lovely straight right, and jabbed beautifully. This looked like a very confident, fitter and very focused Joshua. It was an ominous opening round for Ruiz.
Joshua continued to keep Ruiz at long range for most of the second, although Ruiz did start to get his own jab functioning. AJ landed another nice punch on Ruiz’s cut eye, plus a decent left hook that Ruiz certainly felt. But the round ended with Joshua bleeding himself, courtesy of a clash of heads. But it proved to be only a minor wound, and was to play no major part in the fight, thankfully for Joshua.
Joshua continued his superiority into the third – jabbing superbly, staying away, controlling his opponent. Although Ruiz had the centre of the ring, Joshua was happy circling his man. Ruiz knew he had to get in close to do any damage, but Joshua knew that, and cleverly held on whenever Ruiz got too close.
Round four was probably Ruiz’s – the fight opened up somewhat and some good punches were exchanged, Ruiz reminding us of his excellent hand speed with a nice right/left combination. Joshua’s chin passed the test.
Ruiz’s cut continued to leak blood into the fifth, with Joshua landing another decent right hand directly onto it. Ruiz looked to be slowing up somewhat, and by now he certainly knew he’d have to do something pretty special in order make any discernible progress in this fight.
Round six was yet another to Joshua, a crisp left hook nicely reminding Ruiz that he wasn’t the only decent puncher in the ring. Joshua’s energy levels looked excellent. He was still moving nicely, in stark contrast to Ruiz, who was leaden-footed and slow. Hardly surprising when you’re lugging 283lbs around the ring.
Ruiz saw a chance to unload some punches in the seventh, and Joshua replied in kind – but, crucially, kept calm and refused to give Ruiz the close-quarters dust-up he wanted. Joshua’s tactics were by now looking perfect – but as he knew better than anybody – Ruiz can certainly punch, and by now this was the American/Mexican’s only realistic chance of keeping the titles.
Ruiz rallied himself somewhat in the eighth, edging the round. Ruiz landed some good shots, a big left and a cracking left, right, left combination later in the round reminded Joshua to concentrate on the game-plan. He wasn’t too happy as Ruiz – not for the first time – clipped him on the back of the head, giving Ruiz a scowl that clearly indicated his displeasure.
At this point, even though Ruiz had just won a round in most people’s eyes, he seemed to realise the game was up. Joshua looked like he was merely running the clock down in the remaining rounds, still gliding, still full of energy, jabbing smartly and keeping himself out of trouble.
Rounds nine to eleven were identical – Joshua retained his total control, whilst Ruiz’s ideas box looked completely bankrupt. As the twelfth and final round started, Ruiz had only one option, to knock Joshua out or force a stoppage, but in truth that never looked likely. The best punch of the round was actually thrown by AJ, a decent right hand that Ruiz wore reasonably well – but it was game over, and Ruiz knew it.
It was an emphatic points victory for AJ, Canadian judge Benoit Roussel and American judge Glenn Feldman both scored the fight 118-110 to Joshua, whereas Brit Steve Gray gave Ruiz only one round, scoring it 119-109.
This was a comprehensive, intelligent and impressive performance from Joshua. His team deserve great credit for formulating a game-plan that worked brilliantly. The nightmare of New York just six months previously suddenly seemed a distant memory.
Ruiz must be kicking himself. He clearly hadn’t trained or prepared properly for such a huge opportunity, which seems astonishing based on the fact he’d already beaten Joshua, and this fight was a clear step on the way to potential fights with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury, with millions of dollars on offer.
Since their June fight, Ruiz piled on a stone and Joshua lost 10 lbs, which had a huge impact on proceedings. A lot of pundits and fans have expressed their disappointment at Ruiz’s lack of professionalism in his preparation, and, quite frankly, I’d say it’s hard to disagree.
So it is Joshua and not Ruiz who will dream of the long-awaited crack at Wilder or Fury, and that’s thoroughly deserved – Watford’s finest is right back in the frame at the top table. Yet again, we can only hope that boxing politics allows us to finally get to see a unification process and a truly undisputed world heavyweight champion.
We can’t leave this fight without considering the location, which has drawn fierce criticism from many – a bad example of sportswashing? Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is a very sad state of affairs to say the least, and many feel this was a poor choice of location for this fight. But in elite sport, money talks and probably always will. Joshua’s astonishing purse of a reported £66m (win, lose or draw), confirms that. Does a reportedly well-run and well-received event – which hopefully did something for boxing’s profile in unfamiliar territory – justify the location? By itself – no, obviously it doesn’t, but in order to debate the question properly you need to look way beyond this as merely a sporting event, and look at many other (far more important) factors.
It’s a huge question. I’d be very interested to hear what my readers think about it – do please get in touch if you feel so inclined. With other significant sporting events stirring similar concerns – the World Cup being awarded to Qatar in 2022 for one – it’s something that will continue to provoke much controversy and debate.
By Chris Tribe
11th December 2019
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