Joshua vs Ruiz 2

Punchstats: In their first bout, Joshua landed 47 of 176 (26.7%)  total shots while Ruiz connected on 56 of 206 (27.2%).

He's the goods: Officially, Ruiz is 33-1, 22 KOs but some insist he's 34-0, unofficially. In 2017, Ruiz dropped a somewhat controversial razor thin decision to then WBO Champion Joseph Parker in the latter's native New Zealand. Had Parker vs Ruiz taken place outside of Kiwi territory, would the result have been the same?

Confidence: It means a lot and doesn't show in the statistics. Having already KO'd AJ, Ruiz will be even more confident in the rematch. If he's not overconfident, it should work to his advantage. Win or lose, don't be surprised to see an even better version of Ruiz in the rematch.

50 Mil: Contrary to speculation, Ruiz will not get $50 Million for the rematch or anything near close.

Purses: In their first meeting, it's believed Joshua earned between $28 and $32 million USD while Ruiz is believed to have garnered roughly $6 to 7 million USD (£5.36m). Ruiz will likely earn more for the rematch.

UPDATE 8/10: Andy Ruiz Jr. isn’t expected to sign off on the rematch in Saudi Arabia unless he’s guaranteed a significantly higher purse than the approximately $9 million he’s guaranteed to fight Anthony Joshua again.”

Joshua vs Ruiz 2 Predictions

Mike Tyson: "(Andy) came the other day, we talked. His energy is wonderful, he is a beautiful person," Tyson told ESPN Deportes.

"If he did it once, he can do it again."
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Tyson Fury: "You don't judge a book by its cover and it doesn't mean anything at heavyweight if you're chubby," he told ESPN .

"His [Joshua] style and his [Ruiz Jr] style aren't made to go together and Andy will always beat AJ in my opinion. I looked at Joshua and I seen that he didn't want to be in the ring on the night. He was looking away he had other things on his mind. From round one I could see what was going to happen. I looked at Joshua and he didn't have no water, no sweat on him and I thought this guys is going to get knocked out."
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Robbie Davies Jr
British & European super-lightweight champion (Courtesy BritishBoxingNews.co.uk)

"If Joshua really does have that challenger mentality back, then I honestly believe the speed and power and explosiveness will be enough to get him the win. Although, second time round, I feel Ruiz will have a confidence knowing he has the power to hurt Joshua.

I'm going for Joshua points win."

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Kubrat Pulev
(Courtesy of FightNews)

“The rematch is a 50/50 fight, and I see Ruiz winning again. I’m currently in training camp in Las Vegas and feeling that great things are about to happen!”

Promoter: Matchroom Boxing - Eddie Hearn
TV: DAZN

Tyson Fury (Courtesy TalkSport)
“It was all about Joshua at that time when he was fighting Ruiz, nobody gave Ruiz a prayer. “But now it’s about Ruiz and I believe Ruiz does exactly the same the second time round.”

“It wasn’t a fluke punch like Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis, and then in the rematch he turned up, didn’t get hit with a punch and knocked him out.

“He clearly lost the rounds. He was getting outboxed, he was getting outfought and then he got knocked down three times, two to boot. So I don’t see him really improving, not unless he comes out on his toes and tries to do a Tyson Fury and slip out the way, which he doesn’t have the body type or the boxing ability to do.”

Deontay Wilder,, on the first fight (Courtesy GQ)
"I like Joshua. He's a good fighter. But the way he lost? For me, he quit. When you’re spitting out your mouthpiece, that's just a mechanism to get more oxygen, to get more time to rest. This man went straight to his corner. You're not supposed to do this. This is not a time-out. And the ref told him, "This ain't no time-out." But he's used to that, because he's used to getting away with certain things in his country."