Joshua vs Ruiz 2

Punchstats: Anthony Joshua regained his IBf, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles titles by boxing effectively over 12 rounds. 65 of Joshua's 107 landed punches were jabs, averaging 23 thrown per round.

Andy Ruiz managed to land an average of just 5 punches per round, throwing just 22 per round.

Weights: The chubby Ruiz weighed in today at a whopping 283.7 lbs, nearly 16 lbs heavier than Joshua vs Ruiz 1 on June 1. AJ, at 237 lbs, was 10 lbs lighter. Ruiz is 46.7 lbs heavier.

After weeks of incessant rumors implying unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz would be much leaner for the rematch with Anthony Joshua, he weighed in even heavier than before. More on the weigh-in.

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.

Joshua vs Ruiz 2 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.”

UPDATE 8/28: Matchroom sent a new bout agreement that would see Ruiz Jr’s guaranteed £7million ($9 Million ) fight purse increase significantly.

Payout Estimates: We believe Joshua will earn between $28 and $35 million USD and Ruiz between $12 and $15 Million,

Joshua vs Ruiz 2 contract: Should Joshua regain his title, he won't be contractually obligated to face Ruiz again. Although Ruiz won the first fight, Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, is still calling the shots for the rematch because Andy gave him that right when signing the first contract. So, the Joshua vs Ruiz 2 contract simply enforces what was agreed to prior to the first bout. Minus amended purse details, there's probably nothing new. More on the contract.

Referee: When Luis Pabon of Puerto Rico was chosen to be the third man in the ring for this Saturday night's main event, no one really had a strong opinion of the selection. The 53-year-old boxing official was more than likely chosen for his apparent tendency to allow both men to fight without being overly officious in the ring. More on the referee.

Joshua vs Ruiz 2 undercard: Two fights you need to watch
Fresh off a recent win over young gun Hughie Fury, Povetkin will be the underdog against 31 year old Michael Hunter, a former cruiserweight fighting for the seventh time as a heavyweight. The son of 1990s legendary heavyweight journeyman Mike 'The Bounty' Hunter, the current Michael Hunter participated on the 2012 US Olympic team and has only one blemish on his resume - a spirited unanimous decision loss to top 10 pound-for-pound fighter Oleksandr Usyk.

In Hunter's most recent bout, he looked solid if not awesome in defeating red hot young lion Sergey Kuzmin (then 15-0) by a unanimous decision. But, how will he cope with a fighter as seasoned, skilled and strong as Povetkin? More

Odds (as of Dec 2): Despite what many of the experts are saying and the fact Joshua lost the first bout, online sportsbook Bovada has AJ as the -205 favorite with Ruiz coming back at +175.

Joshua vs Ruiz 2 Predictions

Eric Molina (27-5, 19 KO)
Heavyweight contender who has faced Deontay Wilder and Joshua; Molina will battle Filip Hrgovic on the Joshua vs Ruiz 2 undercard.
iFL TV

“I think Ruiz comes out victorious once again. I think some things in AJ’s camp are going to get tweaked, but ultimately, it’ll be the same result as the first fight will eventually happen, but just a little bit later in the fight."

Prediction: Ruiz by late KO
-----------------

Joel Diaz
Elite Trainer
FightHype

'I can't take anything from Andy Ruiz.... Going into that fight... Andy Ruiz was a replacement.... One hundred percent of the time, he's just and opponent. I never gave Ruiz a chance. I'm very happy that he won. It's impressive to me that he showed his heart and determination to finish Anthony Joshua the way he did.

I think Anthony Joshua will win [the rematch] because now he has to make adjustments... I think Anthony Joshua walked in that fight thinking 'this is an easy fight for me.' Mentally, he wasn't ready for an Andy Ruiz that was hungry that night.

For the rematch, Anthony Joshua is coming in with a different mentality. 'This kid is dangerous. He's a big threat. Now I have to prepare myself differently and come to the fight with a different mentality.'

When Joshua dropped Ruiz he was thinking 'This guy is done. I already got him and I'm gonna finish him. And that was his worst mistake. I don't see Ruiz winning. I think he's going to go in like the first fight and he's going to run into problems [due to Joshua's adjustments]."

----------------

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."
___________

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."
___________

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."

-____________

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!”

_____________

Roy Jones, Jr
Boxing Legend
(Courtesy of DAZN)

"The fight will come down to what kind of adjustments can AJ make. If AJ can make adjustments, rela adjustments, he can beat Andy but if he don't make to his entire style he won't beat Andy again because Andy Ruiz is a really good fighter who is one the only heavyweights that throws multipole punch combinations.

Andy Ruiz can throw 5 and 6 punch combinations as a heavyweight with good velocity and good power. Andy is not just a guy who luckily uset Joshua."

More predictions

Promoter: Matchroom Boxing - Eddie Hearn
TV: DAZN (USA); Sky Sports PPV (UK)

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."

Freddie Roach (Courtesy iFL TV)
"The lighter [Ruiz] was, the more he got paid. But I told them he's not effective at that weight. I said this guy is one of the best fighters in the world when he's heavy."

"He puts combinations really, really well...better than any heavyweight I've seen, and he absorbs shots well. I've never seen him hurt by a body shot or headshot. He won the title fat...what's wrong with that?"

"Why? Because he looks a bit more presentable? Look, this is not a modeling show! This is a fight! I don't think he needed to lose weight. If anything, he's more effective when he's heavier."