Paul's Preview: Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II (Patreon)

At the beginning of the 2019, there were 3 heavyweight boxers vying for the title of best in the world. Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua all had legitimate claims at being the king of heavyweights (with the sizes to prove it). Flash forward to the end of 2019 and we have a new challenger: Andy Ruiz Jr. Ruiz was a last-minute replacement after Anthony Joshua’s original opponent Jarrell Miller had to withdraw from the fight for testing positive for 3 (three!) banned substances: GW501516, EPO, and HGH. This must have seen like an easy switch for Joshua’s camp. Luis Ortiz was the first choice to replace Miller, but he had turned the fight down twice (taking away the narrative that Joshua was avoiding tough matches). Joshua can make his US debut in stunning fashion and be in prime position to challenge the winner of the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight. Ruiz was an 11-1 underdog, so this was clearly a gimme fight, right? There’s an old saying about the best laid plans, but it’s easier to say that Joshua got whooped by Ruiz and he should count his blessings that his manager Eddie Hearn made sure a rematch clause was put on his contract and enforced right away.

Now that Ruiz has the belts, he’s in the rare position of being able to call some of the shots (albeit temporarily). There are many who still think that the fight was a fluke and that Joshua didn’t take Ruiz seriously. It’s possible that Joshua was preoccupied by other things and was certain that there wasn’t anything in Ruiz’s game that could give him a problem. However, a closer examination of their records shows a common opponent – Joseph Parker. To this day, Parker remains the only fighter on Joshua’s record to take him the distance. Although it was clear that his lack of offense early on cost him the fight on the scorecards, slick movements did keep him from absorbing too much damage from Joshua’s jabs. The fight was also strange in that many of the inside fighting was broken up right away, meaning that Parker’s best chances during the exchanges were extremely limited. Ruiz’s fight with Parker was much more hotly contested, with the judges having scored the fight 114–114, 115–113, and 115–113. There were flashes of brilliance from Ruiz, especially the swift left hook and jabs/straights to the body. For a stockier fighter, Ruiz moves with unusual athleticism that you normally see in smaller fighters. His speed and gas tank also allow him to punch off rapid fire combination that overwhelm instead of knocking you out cold.

Even though he stands 6’2”, Ruiz is considered one of the smaller boxers in his weight class, but he doesn’t move like the traditional smaller heavyweights either. James Toney, Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier were among heavyweight greats that were under 6 feet tall, but they relied on dipping their bodies low and forcing their opponents to punch down. Ruiz doesn’t do this as often and instead relies on his speed to fire off his left hook or land his jabs and straights to the body. His preferred method of parrying punches and attacking the midsection might force him to get lower by default, and quite honestly that’s not a bad thing. Ruiz’s opponents often seem surprised at his ability to close the distance, and it’s hard to find good quality heavyweights with his size that can move that fast outside of NFL linemen.

The pressure is on Joshua to right this wrong and reclaim the titles that he lost. Even though he was the massive favorite, he got finished in 7 rounds in a match that saw him dropped several times and without an answer for Ruiz’s body work. The whole world now knows that Ruiz is legit, and that his skills shouldn’t be ignored. Joshua has all the tools to win, but he’s going to have to mindful of the attacks that cost him the fight in the first place. Ruiz has some sneaky weapons that he’s able to land in all his fights, chief among them is his left hook. No matter who the opponent, he’s able to land it consistently on the jaws of guys like Joshua and Parker. Pairing a right straight/hook immediately after this gives him a chance to double the damage and rock his opponents before they have a chance to fire back. Every now and then, he’ll keep the left hand on the opponents’ shoulders in a bit of dirty boxing so he can set up a right hand (ala Daniel Cormier). In his fight against Joshua, you can see this play out perfectly in the 3rd round where he dropped him using the combination described above.

Even though they’re not as flashy, Ruiz’s body jabs and straights do a wonderful job of slowing down his opponents, they were on full display against both Joshua and Parker. I spoke at length about the importance of body work and how even defensive greats like Floyd Mayweather Jr. has trouble when his opponents target his midsection. Joshua himself has been hit clean with shots to the body and has trouble defending them. Even going to past matches against opponents like Parker and Alexander Povetkin show that Joshua often will freeze after getting hit to the body, leaving himself open for hooks on the follow up. This is going to be something that he’ll have to work around or make Ruiz pay whenever he does follow through. Let’s not forget that Joshua has a vicious uppercut and even though Ruiz doesn’t often dip, he stays still long enough while throwing combinations that he can be caught with a few if he’s not careful. The uppercut to hook combination is what dropped both Wladimir Klitschko and Ruiz in their fights, and it’s hard for anyone to fully recover from those punches.

For Joshua to win, he’s going to have to work religiously behind his jabs and right straight. Joshua’s 1,2s are among the best in the heavyweight division, and once he has you at the end of punches, he can expect you to lunge in and be wide open for that uppercut to hook combination. Ruiz doesn’t do a lot of dipping or moving his head, but his sometimes stationary stance can cost him if he decides to fight on the outside and try to simply box his way in with body strikes. When it comes to clinching, Ruiz does another great Daniel Cormier impression and throw a right hand/hook when his opponents get too close. This is done so quickly that he doesn’t get warned for it, and it’s definitely meant to ensure that guys think twice about trying to smother Ruiz or push him into a corner. For Ruiz, he’ll have to do what he did the first time around, only making sure to keep the volume higher and the pace consistent since Joshua will be gunning for revenge. He recently slimmed down even more to make sure that his conditioning his top notch, but he might lose some power and durability in exchange for the speed and endurance.  What worked so well for him the first time around was the element of surprise, but you can be sure that Joshua is going to be prepared. Even with that said, has the damage that Joshua has taken from the Klitschko fight already taken effect? Keep in mind that he’s fighting heavyweights, among the biggest men in the world and taking punches from them on a consistent basis. Even with his larger-than-average frame, a human body can only take so much damage. We’ll soon find out if Joshua had an off-night, or if this kind of performance from Ruiz is the norm.