By Ian S Palmer
Anthony Joshua of England puts his IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA (Super) Heavyweight Titles on the line outside of his homeland for the first time as he takes on Andy Ruiz Jr of Imperial, California this Saturday, June 1st. The 12-round bout takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City and can be seen live in the UK on Sky Box Office while fans in North America can catch the action on DAZN. Joshua hasn’t fought since September when he stopped Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds. Ruiz fought on April 20th when he stopped Alexander Dimitrenko after the fifth round.
The 29-year-old Joshua of Watford is a former Olympic gold medalist who won the IBF Title in just his 16th pro bout when he stopped Charles Martin in the second round in April, 2016. He enters the fight with a perfect record of 22-0 with 21 big Kos. He ended his first 14 bouts and 16 of his first 18 fights within the first three rounds. However, he’s gone 11, 10, 12 and seven rounds in his last four outings against Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and Povetkin respectively. Joshua won the British title against Dillian Whyte in December, 2015 after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics.
Joshua has excellent power, but his chin is still a major question mark and his power hasn’t been as evident lately. Klitschko had him down and apparently out in the sixth round but Joshua came back and stop him to win the majority of his belts. Joshua turned pro in 2013 and has 84 rounds under his belt since. He’s a good-sized heavyweight by today’s standards as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall and has a reach of 82 inches. His best known opponents have been Klitschko, Takam, Parker, Povetkin, Charles Martin, Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, Dillian Whyte, Kevin Johnson, Matt Skelton and Michael Sprott.
Joshua is arguably a bit too muscle bound, but possesses pretty good boxing skills even if he is a bit robotic. The champ has decent mobility and upper body movement as well as a stiff jab. He usually tries to stay away from slugfests if possible while he attempts to box his opponents and use his size to advantage. However, he’s often forced to slug it out when he gets nailed on the chin and rocked. He’ll try using his jab and nailing Ruiz with something solid whenever he sees an opening and will definitely go after him if he feels his opponent’s hurt.
The 29-year-old Ruiz has an impressive mark of 32-1 with 21 Kos. His only loss was a 12-round majority decision for the vacant WBO World Heavyweight Championship against Joseph Parker in December, 2016. Ruiz was formerly the NABF Heavyweight Champion. He’s an intelligent boxer in the ring and possesses an effective jab, which he uses to set up his power shots. His best weapons are the left hook and overhand right and he’s been able to stop 13 of his past 19 opponents. There’s no doubt he has decent power and his current knockout ratio stands at 64 per cent.
Ruiz has boxed 144 rounds since turning pro in 2009 and has beaten the likes of Dimitrenko, Kevin Johnson, Siarhei Liakhovich, Joe Hanks, Tor Hamer, Ray Austin, Josh Gormley, Franklin Lawrence and Carl Davis. He’s 6-fee-2-inches tall with a 74-inch reach, so he gives up four inches in height and eight inches in reach to Joshua. He won the NABA, and WBO Inter Continental Heavyweight Crowns when he stopped Manuel Quezada in the second round in 2014. The knock against Ruiz is that he doesn’t always come into the ring in the best of shape. He was 262 lbs against Dimitrenko but that’s not bad considering he was 297 lbs. in his pro debut.
Prediction…
Ruiz Jr. has good boxing skills for a big guy but needs to be in shape for this fight. Neither he or Joshua is built for speed but they can both bang. Ruiz gives up quite a bit in reach and it’s going to be hard for him to get within range of the champion without getting nailed on the way in. Like just about every heavyweight who enters the ring against Joshua, he has a puncher’s chance though since he has the power to stop him and this is always a possibility. However, I think the more likely scenario is Joshua retaining his titles.
