Saudi Arabia is set to host one of the biggest heavyweight fights of 2019 as Mexican Andy Ruiz. Jr is set to defend his WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO belts against former champion Anthony Joshua on December 7 in Ad Diriyah.
This will be the first time that both Ruiz Jr. and Joshua will fight in the desert and it will be interesting to see how the heat and humidity affect their cardio and conditioning. There have been some critics who have gone after Ruiz Jr. and Joshua for agreeing to fight in a country which has a reputation for human rights abuse.
However, the two heavyweight boxers are not paying any attention to those issues as they are guaranteed a huge payday for agreeing to fight in Saudi Arabia. Some of the top celebrities and boxers including Iron Mike Tyson and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez are expected to be in attendance on Saturday night.
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Andy Ruiz. Jr because the first boxer to defeat Anthony Joshua earlier this year in Madison Square Garden (MSG). Joshua wasn’t scheduled to fight Ruiz Jr. but agreed to on short notice after his original opponent did not make it. Joshua did not give excuses for his loss but the fact of the matter was that he wasn’t prepared for Ruiz’s style and speed.
This time around Anthony Joshua has had a full training camp and looks to be in the best shape of his life. For this camp, Joshua spent less time lifting weights and more time working on his fitness and sparring.
He went on to say that after his first loss in New York, he did not let it bring him down. Joshua said that he had no fear in stepping into the ring and facing Ruiz Jr. a second time as he still had that fire in his belly.
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If Joshua wins, then things will go back to script as his next match could be the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 2 fight scheduled in Feb 2020. If Ruiz ends up winning for the second time, it will be a huge blow to Joshua’s career.
Wilder has already announced that he will KO Fury in Feb and then take on Ruiz Jr. to hold all the heavyweight belts and officially become the heavyweight champion of the world!