Ruiz-Joshua II set for December 7th in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
Ruiz had been adamant about the rematch not taking place in the U.K.
Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua will run back the year’s biggest upset on December 7th in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. A press conference with further details is planned for Monday, though we do know that the fight will air on Sky Box Office in the U.K. and take place in a “temporary outdoor arena that will be erected solely to host the fight.”
Entering their first fight on June 1st, “The Destroyer” was a late replacement for Jarrell Miller, who tested positive for all of the drugs just under two months before fight night. Most saw him as little more than fodder for Joshua (22-1, 21 KO), a dismissal that appeared justified when Joshua floored him in the third round, but Ruiz (33-1, 22 KO) quickly flipped the script with a pair of knockdowns of his own. Though Joshua managed to recover and seemingly get himself back in the fight, another knockdown in the seventh forced the referee to intervene.
Since then, Ruiz has been very vocal about refusing to fight Joshua in the U.K., especially after the Dillian Whyte debacle came to light, so this looks like something of a win for him. It does, however, preclude Katie Taylor from serving as the co-feature again, what with the Saudi government torturing women and all.
So what do you think? Does Joshua reclaim his place atop the heavyweight hierarchy or does Ruiz once again go through him like a bonesaw through a journalist?